Defective hyphal development and avirulence caused by a deletion of the SSK1 response regulator gene in Candida albicans.

ABSTRACT: In a previous study, we reported the isolation and characterization of the two-component response regulator SSK1 gene of Candida albicans. This gene is a structural but not a functional homolog of the SSK1 and mcs4(+) genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, respectively. In the present study, we have constructed and phenotypically characterized Deltassk1 mutants of C. albicans. The results confirmed our previous observation that CaSSK1, unlike SSK1 or mcs4(+), does not regulate cellular responses to either osmotic or oxidative stress. Instead, Deltassk1 null strains showed severely reduced hyphal formation on serum agar and were totally defective in hyphal development on other solid media, such as medium 199 (pH 7.5) and Spider medium. In contrast, under conditions

SUBMITTER: Calera JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC97171 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature