Isolation and characterization of YlBEM1, a gene required for cell polarization and differentiation in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

ABSTRACT: The ability to switch between a unicellular yeast form and different filamentous forms (fungal dimorphism) is an important attribute of most pathogenic fungi. Dimorphism involves a series of events that ultimately result in dramatic changes in the polarity of cell growth in response to environmental factors. We have isolated and characterized YlBEM1, a gene encoding a protein of 639 amino acids that is essential for the yeast-to-hypha transition in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica and whose transcription is significantly increased during this event. Cells with deletions of YlBEM1 are viable but show substantial alterations in morphology, disorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, delocalization of cortical actin and chitin deposition, multinucleation, and loss of mating ability, thus pointing

SUBMITTER: Hurtado CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC118001 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature