Analysis of ERG11 gene mutations in fluconazole-resistant Candida glabrata strains / 中华传染病杂志

Objective To study the mutations of ERG11 gene which encodes P450 lanosterol 14-α demethylase, and to explore the possible role of ERG11 gene in inducing fluconazole resistance in Candida glabrata. Methods ERG11 genes of 9 fluconazole-resistant Candida glabrata isolates and 10 fluconazole-sensitive Candida glabrata isolates were cloned into pUC57-T vector. The open reading frame of ERG11 gene were sequenced by two directional sequencing using universal primers. All sequences were compared with the published sequence. Results Ten kinds of synonymous point mutation were found. Neither missense mutation nor frame-shifting mutation was found. Among the 10 kinds of synonymous point mutation, 5 were found in both fluconazole-resistant and fluconazolesensitive Candida glabrata isolates, and 3 were only found in fluconazole-resistant isolates, 2 were only found in fluconazole-sensitive ones. The majority of the point mutations were located between 1320-2200 base pair of ERG11 gene. Conclusions There are ERG11 gene polymorphisms in clinical strains of Candida glabrata. ERG11 gene mutations are not found to be involved in the development of fluconazole resistance in Candida glabrata.

Application of DNA microarray in the identification of Candida spp. and mutations of ERG11 gene resulting in fluconazole resistance / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To investigate the performance of DNA microarray in identifying 6 common Candida spp. and validating ERG11 mutations resulting in fluconazolc-resistance in Candida albicans. Methods Oligonucleotide probes were designed and synthesized targeting the species-specific sequence in the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of rDNA of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, Candida dubliniensis, Candida parapsilosis and Candida krusei, as well as 6 sequences embracing the following mutations respectively in ERG11 gene leading to fluconazole-resistance, i.c., T541C, A 1090G, C1361T, G1537A, G1547A, and T1559C, then arranged onto a chip. Twelve 50-base-pair oligonucleotides were artificially synthesized based on the above specific sequences, and utilized to hybridize with the DNA microarray. Thirty-lbur Candida strains, including 29 C. albicans, 1 Candida tropicalis, 1 Candida glabrata,1 Candida dubliniensis, 1 Candida parapsilosis and 1 Candida krusei, were detected with microarray. Genomic DNA was extracted from these tested strains and underwent multiple PCR for the amplification of ITS2 region and ERGI 1 gene. Sequencing was performed to analyze the sequence of ERG11 in 29 strains of C. albicans and the results were compared with those of DNA microarray hybridization. Results Multiple PCR successfully produced ITS2 fragment of 307-415 bp from all the 34 strains, as well as ERG11 fragment of 1712 bp from 29 C. albicans strains. DNA microarray hybridization offered the same results in species identification of the 34 strains with their given information, as well as in mutation detection of the 29 strains of C. albicans with ERG11 sequencing results. Also, the 6 synthesized oligonucleotides containing the muta- tions were identified precisely as T541C, A1090G, C1361T, G1537A, G1547A, and T1559C, and the 6 species specific oligonucleotieds were identified correctly as C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. dubliniensis, C. parapsilosis and C. krusei Both the sensitivity and the specificity of the microarray were 100%. Conclu- sion DNA microarray is a quite reliable method to identify Candida spp. and fluconazole resistance-associ- ated mutations in the ERG11 gene of C. albicans.