Project description:The goal of this study was to position all transcripts extremities in two species of Cryptococcus using TSS-Seq and QuantSeq 3' mRNA-Seq when cells are grown under different conditions. We analysed also the level of expression of each genes in the same condition using the same cell sample. All these data have spiked in using a fixed quantity of S. cereviae cells added just before DNA and RNA extraction.
Project description:Leptospirosis is a globally significant zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira spp. Iron is essential for growth of most bacterial species. Since availability of iron is low in the host, pathogens have evolved complex iron acquisition mechanisms to survive and establish infection. Virulence genes in some bacteria have been shown to be iron-regulated. In many bacteria, expression of iron-uptake and storage proteins is regulated by Fur. L. interrogans encodes four predicted Fur homologs; we have constructed a mutant in one of these, la1857. We conducted microarray analysis to identify differentially expressed genes in L. interrogans serovar Manilae grown under low iron compared with normal iron conditions found in EMJH medium. We also compared the transcriptional profile of the la1857 mutant versus wild-type Manilae under normal and low iron conditions.
2010-03-22 | GSE20422 | GEO
Project description:Differentially expressed genes in mutants of haploid induction
Project description:Hybridization has resulted in the origin and variation in extant species, and hybrids continue to arise despite pre- and post-zygotic barriers that limit their formation and evolutionary success. One important system that maintains species boundaries in prokaryotes and eukaryotes is the mismatch repair pathway, which blocks recombination between divergent DNA sequences. Previous studies illuminated the role of the mismatch repair component Msh2 in blocking genetic recombination between divergent DNA during meiosis. Loss of Msh2 results in increased interspecific genetic recombination in bacterial and yeast models, and increased viability of progeny derived from yeast hybrid crosses. Hybrid isolates of two pathogenic fungal Cryptococcus species, Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus deneoformans, are isolated regularly from both clinical and environmental sources. In the present study, we sought to determine if loss of Msh2 would relax the species boundary between C. neoformans and C. deneoformans. We found that crosses between these two species in which both parents lack Msh2 produced hybrid progeny with increased viability and high levels of aneuploidy. Whole-genome sequencing revealed few instances of recombination among hybrid progeny and did not identify increased levels of recombination in progeny derived from parents lacking Msh2. Several hybrid progeny produced structures associated with sexual reproduction when incubated alone on nutrient-rich medium in light, a novel phenotype in Cryptococcus. These findings represent a unique, unexpected case where rendering the mismatch repair system defective did not result in increased meiotic recombination across a species boundary. This suggests that alternative pathways or other mismatch repair components limit meiotic recombination between homeologous DNA and enforce species boundaries in the basidiomycete Cryptococcus species.
Project description:Purpose: Defining the regulatory role of the transcription factors, Cir1 and HapX, in C. neoformans. Methods: Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing was performed using chromatin immunoprecipitated DNA from the strains Cir1-Flag and HapX-Flag grown in low- and high-iron condition. Results: Cir1 and HapX bind to the promoter region of the genes involved in iron acquisition and metabolism in C. neoformans.
Project description:The amino sugar N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) is the key constituent of cell wall components and plays an important role in pathogenesis in a wide range of fungi. However, catabolism of GlcNAc has not been studied in basidiomycete fungi. In this study, we identified and characterized a gene cluster essential for GlcNAc utilization in Cryptococcus deneoformans, an environmental human fungal pathogen. The C. deneoformans genome contains a GlcNAc transporter (Ngt1), a GlcNAc kinase (Hxk3), a GlcNAc-6-phosphate deacetylase (Dac1), and a glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase (Nag1). Their expression levels were highly induced in cultures containing GlcNAc as the sole carbon source, and the corresponding mutants showed severe growth defects in the presence of GlcNAc. Functional and biochemical analyses revealed that HXK3 encodes a novel GlcNAc kinase. Site-directed mutations of conserved residues of Hxk3 indicated that ATP binding and GlcNAc binding are essential for GlcNAc kinase activities. Taken together, the results from this study provide crucial insights into basidiomycete GlcNAc catabolism. IMPORTANCEN-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is recognized as not only the building block of chitin but also an important signaling molecule in fungi. The catabolic pathway of GlcNAc also plays an important role in vital biological processes in fungi. However, the utilization pathway of GlcNAc in the phylum Basidiomycota, which contains more than 41,000 species, remains unknown. Cryptococcus deneoformans is a representative basidiomycetous pathogen that causes life-threatening meningitis. In this study, we characterized a gene cluster essential for GlcNAc utilization in C. deneoformans and identified a novel GlcNAc kinase. The results of this study provide important insights into basidiomycete GlcNAc catabolism and offer a starting point for revealing its role in pathogenesis.