Candida albicans CUG mistranslation is a mechanism to create cell surface variation.

ABSTRACT:

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In the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the CUG codon is translated 97% of the time as serine and 3% of the time as leucine, which potentially originates an array of proteins resulting from the translation of a single gene. Genes encoding cell surface proteins are enriched in CUG codons; thus, CUG mistranslation may influence the interactions of the organism with the host. To investigate this, we compared a C. albicans strain that misincorporates 28% of leucine at CUGs with a wild-type parental strain. The first strain displayed increased adherence to inert and host molecules. In addition, it was less susceptible to phagocytosis by murine macrophages, probably due to reduced exposure of cell surface β-glucans. To prove that these phenotypes occurred due to serine/

SUBMITTER: Miranda I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3697807 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature