title: N-acetylglucosamine-induced white-to-opaque switching in Candida albicans is independent of the Wor2 transcription factor.
abstract: Candida albicans, a major opportunistic fungal pathogen of humans, can spontaneously undergo white-to-opaque switching, a prerequisite of mating. The phenotypes of white and opaque cells are heritable and bistable. The zinc-finger transcription factor Wor2 (White Opaque Regulator 2) has previously been identified as an important regulator of white-to-opaque switching. Deletion of WOR2 locks cells in the white phase when cultured on media containing glucose as the sole carbon source. In this study, we report that N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) can induce white-to-opaque switching in the wor2/wor2 null mutant and stabilize the opaque phenotype of C. albicans. Moreover, overexpression of RAS1V13 (the activating form of RAS1) hypersensitizes white cells of the wor2/wor2 mutant to GlcNAc. These results suggest that Wor2 is not required for opaque cell formation at least under some culture conditions. Therefore C. albicans cells may adopt a different gene expression profile in response to GlcNAc to activate phenotypic switching.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yaojun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Chengjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Shaoxing University, No. 5 Huancheng West Road, Shaoxing 312000, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Guobo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: lzhang03@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: huanggh@im.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D009154:Mutation; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000117:Acetylglucosamine
keywords: Candida albicans; N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc); White-opaque switching; Wor2