title: The mitogen-activated protein kinase CgHog1 is required for iron homeostasis, adherence and virulence in Candida glabrata.
abstract: Candida glabrata has emerged as a major fungal pathogen over the last two decades, although our understanding of its survival strategies inside the mammalian host remains rudimentary. An important requirement for survival in vivo is the ability to acquire critical nutrients such as iron from host niches of varied iron content. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time that C. glabrata cells respond to high external iron levels via activation of two stress-responsive mitogen-activated protein kinases, CgHog1 and CgSlt2, and lack of either kinase results in sensitivity to the high-iron medium. Furthermore, we show that CgHOG1 deletion led to perturbed iron homeostasis (elevated intracellular iron content and high mitochondrial aconitase activity), reduced survival in macrophages and attenuated virulence in the murine model of disseminated candidiasis. Consistently, several genes implicated in iron acquisition and storage displayed deregulated expression in the Cghog1∆ mutant. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling analysis revealed upregulation of genes implicated in DNA repair, RNA processing and autophagy, and downregulation of genes related to cellular respiration and organonitrogen compound metabolism under iron-limiting conditions. In contrast, genes involved in the respiratory electron transport chain were induced under iron-replete conditions. Gene expression microarrays also identified a set of iron-responsive regulon in C. glabrata. Lastly, we present evidence for the iron-regulated expression of the major adhesin-encoding EPA1 gene, decreased histone deacetylase activity in a high-iron environment and increased adherence of iron-surplus-medium-grown C. glabrata cells to epithelial cells. Together, our findings yield novel insights into iron abundance-based regulation of transcriptional and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in C. glabrata.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fungal Pathogenesis, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.|Graduate Studies, Manipal University, India.
authors.forename: Vivek K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fungal Pathogenesis, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
authors.forename: Korivi J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Suneetha
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fungal Pathogenesis, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
authors.forename: Rupinder
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaur
mesh_terms: D000154:Aconitate Hydratase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D041221:Candida glabrata / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005260:Female; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D063990:Gene Ontology; D006706:Homeostasis; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D059467:Transcriptome; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D000154:Aconitate Hydratase
keywords: Candida glabrata; CgHog1 and CgSlt2 MAP kinases; adhesins; histone deacetylase activity; iron metabolism