Mutant alleles of the essential 14-3-3 gene, BMH1, in Candida albicans distinguish between growth and filamentation.
Glen Palmer, Sumana Ghosh, Bray Denard, Joy Sturtevant
Microbiol, Immunol & Parasitol, LSUHSC School of Medicine, 1100 Florida Ave, New Orleans, LA, 70117, USA
The ability of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans to switch between growth forms is important for initiation and maintenance of infection. Therefore, genes involved in environmental response and cell morphology will likely be involved in pathogenesis. Studies with mammalian and yeast 14-3-3 proteins indicate that these signaling module domains play a role in the assemblage of signaling complexes. In yeast they play an essential role in cell cycle regulation and morphogenesis. These functions make the Candida 14-3-3 protein (Bmh1p) an attractive candidate to address questions concerning the pathogenesis of candidiasis. We have demonstrated that BMH1 is essential for growth in C. albicans and plays an important role in morphogenesis. To better define the specific functions of Bmh1p and identify the signaling cascades Bmh1p modulates, site specific mutated alleles were constructed. Additional mutant strains were obtained by random mutagenesis. Phenotypic analyses of the mutant strains demonstrate that Bmh1p plays distinct roles in growth, filamentation and TOR pathways. Currently several approaches are being used to identify proteins that interact with Bmh1p including proteomics. These mutant strains will allow the identification of 14-3-3 target interactions and correlate the individual functions of Bmh1p to cellular processes involved in pathogenesis.
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