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Transcriptional profiling of two Candida albicans isolates in different growth condition

ABSTRACT: The study asked the question whether commensalism or pathogenicity of an opportunistic pathogen like Candida albicans, depend on strain specific traits or on the phenotypic and genomic plasticity of the genus as a whole. Transcriptional analysis performed upon different medium conditions (RPMI in presence or absence of FBS) indicated differentially expressed genes involved in adhesion, filamentous growth and biofilm formation. Both genome sequence and gene expression highlighted concordant changes in pathways related to invasiveness and filamentation. These results reflected marked differences in term of morphological features, environment adaptation and survival to phagocytosis. The results indicate that the genetic background of C. albicans may greatly affect its behaviour in terms of in vitro susceptibility to immune effector cells. Based on this approach, a more in depth understanding of fungal genetic makeup is achievable, thus allowing to establish the virulence potential of a given isolate and possibly to predict the outcome of C. albicans infection.

ORGANISM(S): Candida albicans

PROVIDER: GSE85138 | GEO | 2018/02/14

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Morphogenetic transitions are prevalent in the fungal kingdom. For a leading human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, the capacity to transition between yeast and filaments is key for virulence. For the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, filamentation enables nutrient acquisition. A recent functional genomic screen in S. cerevisiae identified Mfg1 as a regulator of morphogenesis that acts in complex with Flo8 and Mss11 to enable transcriptional responses crucial for filamentation. In C. albicans, Mfg1 also interacts physically with Flo8 and Mss11 and is critical for filamentation in response to diverse cues, but the mechanisms through which it regulates morphogenesis remained elusive. Here, we explored the consequences of perturbation of Mfg1, Flo8, and Mss11 on C. albicans morphogenesis, and identified functional divergence of complex members. We observed that C. albicans Mss11 was dispensable for filamentation, and that overexpression of FLO8 caused constitutive filamentation even in the absence of Mfg1. Epistasis experiments suggested that Mfg1 acts downstream of protein kinase A, as does Flo8. Harnessing transcriptional profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to microarray analysis, we identified divergence between transcriptional targets of Mfg1 and Flo8 in C. albicans. A key direct transcriptional target of Mfg1 is TEC1, for which overexpression was sufficient to restore filamentation in the absence of Mfg1. To identify additional Mfg1 downstream effectors, we employed a novel strategy to select for mutations that restore filamentation in the absence of Mfg1. Whole genome sequencing of filamentation-competent mutants revealed chromosome 6 amplification as a conserved adaptive mechanism. A key determinant of the amplification on chromosome 6 is FLO8, as deletion of one allele blocked morphogenesis, and chromosome 6 was not amplified in evolved lineages for which FLO8 was re-located to a different chromosome. Thus, this work highlights rewiring of key morphogenetic regulators over evolutionary time and aneuploidy as an adaptive mechanism driving fungal morphogenesis.

Project description:Morphogenetic transitions are prevalent in the fungal kingdom. For a leading human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, the capacity to transition between yeast and filaments is key for virulence. For the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, filamentation enables nutrient acquisition. A recent functional genomic screen in S. cerevisiae identified Mfg1 as a regulator of morphogenesis that acts in complex with Flo8 and Mss11 to mediate transcriptional responses crucial for filamentation. In C. albicans, Mfg1 also interacts physically with Flo8 and Mss11 and is critical for filamentation in response to diverse cues, but the mechanisms through which it regulates morphogenesis remained elusive. Here, we explored the consequences of perturbation of Mfg1, Flo8, and Mss11 on C. albicans morphogenesis, and identified functional divergence of complex members. We observed that C. albicans Mss11 was dispensable for filamentation, and that overexpression of FLO8 caused constitutive filamentation even in the absence of Mfg1. Harnessing transcriptional profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled to microarray analysis, we identified divergence between transcriptional targets of Flo8 and Mfg1 in C. albicans. We also established that Flo8 and Mfg1 cooperatively bind to promoters of key regulators of filamentation, including TEC1, for which overexpression was sufficient to restore filamentation in the absence of Flo8 or Mfg1. To further explore the circuitry through which Mfg1 regulates morphogenesis, we employed a novel strategy to select for mutations that restore filamentation in the absence of Mfg1. Whole genome sequencing of filamentation-competent mutants revealed chromosome 6 amplification as a conserved adaptive mechanism. A key determinant of the chromosome 6 amplification is FLO8, as deletion of one allele blocked morphogenesis, and chromosome 6 was not amplified in evolved lineages for which FLO8 was re-located to a different chromosome. Thus, this work highlights rewiring of key morphogenetic regulators over evolutionary time and aneuploidy as an adaptive mechanism driving fungal morphogenesis.

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Transcriptional profiling of two Candida albicans isolates in different growth condition

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