Calcium- and calcineurin-independent roles for calmodulin in Cryptococcus neoformans morphogenesis and high-temperature growth.

ABSTRACT: The function of calcium as a signaling molecule is conserved in eukaryotes from fungi to humans. Previous studies have identified the calcium-activated phosphatase calcineurin as a critical factor in governing growth of the human pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans at mammalian body temperature. Here, we employed insertional mutagenesis to identify new genes required for growth at 37 degrees C. One insertion mutant, cam1-ts, that displayed a growth defect at 37 degrees C and hypersensitivity to the calcineurin inhibitor FK506 at 25 degrees C was isolated. Both phenotypes were linked to the dominant marker in genetic crosses, and molecular analysis revealed that the insertion occurred in the 3' untranslated region of the gene encoding the calcineurin activator calmodulin (CAM1) and im

SUBMITTER: Kraus PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1151996 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature