Project description:Fungal infections are a major health concern because of limited antifungal drugs and development of drug resistance. Candida can develop azole drug resistance by overexpression of drug efflux pumps or mutating ERG11, the target of azoles. However, the role of epigenetic histone modifications in azole-induced gene expression and drug resistance is poorly understood in Candida glabrata. In this study, we show that Set1 mediates histone H3K4 methylation in C. glabrata. In addition, loss of SET1 and histone H3K4 methylation increases azole susceptibility in both C. glabrata and S. cerevisiae. This increase in azole susceptibility in S. cerevisiae and C. glabrata strains lacking SET1 is due to distinct mechanisms. For S. cerevisiae, loss of SET1 decreased the expression and function of the efflux pump Pdr5, but not ERG11 expression under azole treatment. In contrast, loss of SET1 in C. glabrata does not alter expression or function of efflux pumps. However, RNA sequencing revealed that C. glabrata Set1 is necessary for azole-induced expression of all 12 genes in the late ergosterol biosynthesis pathway, including ERG11 and ERG3. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis shows histone H3K4 trimethylation increases upon azole-induced ERG gene expression. In addition, high performance liquid chromatography analysis indicated Set1 is necessary for maintaining proper ergosterol levels under azole treatment. Clinical isolates lacking SET1 were also hypersusceptible to azoles which is attributed to reduced ERG11 expression but not defects in drug efflux. Overall, Set1 contributes to azole susceptibility in a species-specific manner by altering the expression and consequently disrupting pathways known for mediating drug resistance.
Project description:The opportunistic yeast pathogen Candida glabrata is recognized for its ability to acquire resistance during prolonged treatment with azole antifungals. Resistance to azoles is largely mediated by the transcription factor PDR1, resulting in the upregulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins and drug efflux. Studies in the related yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have shown Pdr1p forms a heterodimer with another transcription factor, Stb5p. In C. glabrata the ORF designated CAGL0I02552g has 38.8% amino acid identity with STB5 (YHR178w), and shares an N-terminal Zn2Cys6 binuclear cluster domain and a fungal specific transcriptional factor domain, prompting us to test for homologous function and a possible role in azole resistance. Complementation of deltayhr178w (stb5) with CAGL0I02552g resolved the increased sensitivity to cold, hydrogen peroxide and caffeine of the mutant, for which reason we designated CAGl0I02552g as CgSTB5. Overexpression of CgSTB5 in C. glabrata repressed azole resistance, whereas deletion of CgSTB5 increased resistance, both by a mechanism independent of CgPDR1. Expression analysis found that CgSTB5 shares many of the same transcriptional targets as CgPDR1 but, unlike the later, is a negative regulator of pleiotropic drug resistance, including the ABC transporter genes CDR1,PDH1, and YOR1.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE23827: Contribution of CgPDR1-regulated genes in enhanced virulence of azole-resistant Candida glabrata (part 1) GSE23828: Contribution of CgPDR1-regulated genes in enhanced virulence of azole-resistant Candida glabrata (part 2) Refer to individual Series
Project description:Pdr1 is the major regulator of azole resistance in the fungal pathogen Candida glabrata. Earlier experiments demonstrated that expression of Pdr1 itself is increased when cells lose their mitochondrial genome (rho0). Here we use chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with highthroughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) to map the genomic binding sites for Pdr1 in both normal and rho0 cells. These data provide the first look at genes that are likely to represent the direct targets of Pdr1 in this important pathogen.
Project description:The opportunistic yeast pathogen Candida glabrata is recognized for its ability to acquire resistance during prolonged treatment with azole antifungals. Resistance to azoles is largely mediated by the transcription factor PDR1, resulting in the upregulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins and drug efflux. Studies in the related yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have shown Pdr1p forms a heterodimer with another transcription factor, Stb5p. In C. glabrata the ORF designated CAGL0I02552g has 38.8% amino acid identity with STB5 (YHR178w), and shares an N-terminal Zn2Cys6 binuclear cluster domain and a fungal specific transcriptional factor domain, prompting us to test for homologous function and a possible role in azole resistance. Complementation of deltayhr178w (stb5) with CAGL0I02552g resolved the increased sensitivity to cold, hydrogen peroxide and caffeine of the mutant, for which reason we designated CAGl0I02552g as CgSTB5. Overexpression of CgSTB5 in C. glabrata repressed azole resistance, whereas deletion of CgSTB5 increased resistance, both by a mechanism independent of CgPDR1. Expression analysis found that CgSTB5 shares many of the same transcriptional targets as CgPDR1 but, unlike the later, is a negative regulator of pleiotropic drug resistance, including the ABC transporter genes CDR1,PDH1, and YOR1. The CgPDR1OE (n=5) arrays consisted of five technical repeats with one prepared using reciprocal labeling. The Cgstb5delta (n=4) and CgSTB5OE (n=4) arrays consisted of four technical repeats each with one prepared using reciprocal labeling.
Project description:The pathogenic yeast species Candida glabrata has an intrinsically high resilience to azoles and a rapid capability of acquiring resistance. Azole-resistant clinical strains derive mostly from them encoding hyperactive mutants of the CgPdr1 regulator, however, strains encoding wild-type CgPdr1 variants were identified suggesting a role for CgPdr1-independent mechanisms in acquisition of resistance in vivo. Seven azole-resistant C. glabrata isolates were found to encode CgPdr1 gain-of-function variants, two, I392M and I803T, being herein described for the first time. OMICS profile of the sole azole-resistant strain encoding a wild-type CgPDR1 allele revealed that these cells over-express several genes described for providing protection against azoles, while down-regulating genes described to increase sensitivity to these drugs. Over-expression of genes required for metabolism and transport of sterols to compensate the azole-induced inhibition of Erg11 and a more active calcineurin pathway are other mechanisms suggested to underlie azole resistance in ISTB218.
Project description:Microarray was used to analyze azole resistance of Candida glabrata oropharyngeal isolates from 7 hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients receiving fluconazole prophylaxis. Transcriptional profiling of the sequential-paired clinical isolates by microarray revealed 19 genes upregulated in the majority of resistant isolates compared to their paired-susceptible isolates. All seven resistant isolates had greater than two fold upregulation of CgPDR1, a master transcriptional regulator of PDR network, and all 7 resistant isolates showed upregulation of known CgPDR1-target genes. The altered transcriptome can be explained in part by the observation that all 7 resistant isolates had acquired a single nonsynonymous mutation in their CgPDR1 ORF. Four mutations occurred in the regulatory domain (L280P, L344S, G348A, S391L) and one in the activation domain (G943S) while two mutations (N764I, R772I) occurred in an undefined region. Association of azole resistance and the CgPDR1 mutations was investigated in the same genetic background by introducing the CgPDR1 sequences from one sensitive and five resistant isolates into a laboratory azole-sensitive strain (cgpdr1) via integrative transformation. The cgpdr1 strain was restored to wild-type fluconazole susceptibility when transformed with CgPDR1 from the susceptible isolate but became resistant when transformed with CgPDR1 from the resistant isolates. However, despite the identical genetic background, upregulation of CgPDR1 and CgPDR1-target genes varied between the 5 transformants, independent of the domain locations in which the mutations occurred. In sum, gain-of-function mutations in CgPDR1 not only contributed to the clinical azole resistance but different mutations had varying degrees of impact on the CgPDR1-target genes.
Project description:Microarray was used to analyze azole resistance of Candida glabrata oropharyngeal isolates from 7 hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients receiving fluconazole prophylaxis. Transcriptional profiling of the sequential-paired clinical isolates by microarray revealed 19 genes upregulated in the majority of resistant isolates compared to their paired-susceptible isolates. All seven resistant isolates had greater than two fold upregulation of CgPDR1, a master transcriptional regulator of PDR network, and all 7 resistant isolates showed upregulation of known CgPDR1-target genes. The altered transcriptome can be explained in part by the observation that all 7 resistant isolates had acquired a single nonsynonymous mutation in their CgPDR1 ORF. Four mutations occurred in the regulatory domain (L280P, L344S, G348A, S391L) and one in the activation domain (G943S) while two mutations (N764I, R772I) occurred in an undefined region. Association of azole resistance and the CgPDR1 mutations was investigated in the same genetic background by introducing the CgPDR1 sequences from one sensitive and five resistant isolates into a laboratory azole-sensitive strain (cgpdr1) via integrative transformation. The cgpdr1 strain was restored to wild-type fluconazole susceptibility when transformed with CgPDR1 from the susceptible isolate but became resistant when transformed with CgPDR1 from the resistant isolates. However, despite the identical genetic background, upregulation of CgPDR1 and CgPDR1-target genes varied between the 5 transformants, independent of the domain locations in which the mutations occurred. In sum, gain-of-function mutations in CgPDR1 not only contributed to the clinical azole resistance but different mutations had varying degrees of impact on the CgPDR1-target genes.
Project description:The ABC-transporters CgCdr1, CgPdh1, and CgSnq2 are known to mediate azole resistance in the pathogenic fungus Candida glabrata. Activating mutations in CgPDR1, a zinc cluster transcription factor, result in constitutive up-regulation of these ABC-transporter genes but to varying degrees. We examined the genome-wide gene expression profiles of two matched azole-susceptible and M-bM-^@M-^Sresistant C. glabrata clinical isolate pairs. Of all the genes identified in the gene expression profiles for these two matched pairs, there were 28 genes that were commonly up-regulated with CgCDR1 in both isolate sets including YOR1, LCB5, RTA1, POG1, HFD1, and several members of the FLO gene family of flocculation genes. We then sequenced CgPDR1 from each susceptible and resistant isolate and found two novel activating mutations that conferred increased resistance when expressed in a common background strain in which CgPDR1 had been disrupted. Microarray analysis comparing these re-engineered strains to their respective parent strains identified a set of commonly differentially-expressed genes, including CgCDR1, YOR1, and YIM1, as well as genes uniquely regulated by specific mutations. Our results demonstrate that while CgPdr1 activates a broad repertoire of genes, specific activating mutations result in the activation of discrete subsets of this repertoire. We examined the genome-wide gene expression profiles of two matched azole-susceptible and M-bM-^@M-^Sresistant C. glabrata clinical isolate pairs to determine the core regulon of CgPDR1 as well as how different activating alleles of PDR1 can affect the differential expression of target genes. genotype: wildtype allele: SM1, 6856, SM1Dpdr1/PDR1-SM1, SM1Dpdr1/PDR1-6856 genotype: activating allele: SM3, 6955, SM1Dpdr1/PDR1-SM3, SM1Dpdr1/PDR1-6955