The Candida albicans Cdk8-dependent phosphoproteome reveals repression of hyphal growth through a Flo8-dependent pathway.

Ssn3, also known as Cdk8, is a member of the four protein Cdk8 submodule within the multi-subunit Mediator complex involved in the co-regulation of transcription. In Candida albicans, the loss of Ssn3 kinase activity affects multiple phenotypes including cellular morphology, metabolism, nutrient acquisition, immune cell interactions, and drug resistance. In these studies, we generated a strain in which Ssn3 was replaced with a functional variant of Ssn3 that can be rapidly and selectively inhibited by the ATP analog 3-MB-PP1. Consistent with ssn3 null mutant and kinase dead phenotypes, inhibition of Ssn3 kinase activity promoted hypha formation. Furthermore, the increased expression of hypha-specific genes was the strongest transcriptional signal upon inhibition of Ssn3 in transcriptomics analyses. Rapid inactivation of Ssn3 was used for phosphoproteomic studies performed to identify Ssn3 kinase substrates associated with filamentation potential. Both previously validated and novel Ssn3 targets were identified. Protein phosphorylation sites that were reduced specifically upon Ssn3 inhibition included two sites in Flo8 which is a transcription factor known to positively regulate C. albicans morphology. Mutation of the two Flo8 phosphosites (threonine 589 and serine 620) was sufficient to increase Flo8-HA levels and Flo8 dependent transcriptional and morphological changes, suggesting that Ssn3 kinase activity negatively regulates Flo8.Under embedded conditions, when ssn3Δ/Δ and efg1Δ/Δ mutants were hyperfilamentous, FLO8 was essential for hypha formation. Previous work has also shown that loss of Ssn3 activity leads to increased alkalinization of medium with amino acids. Here, we show that the ssn3Δ/Δ medium alkalinization phenotype, which is dependent on STP2, a transcription factor involved in amino acid utilization, also requires FLO8 and EFG1. Together, these data show that Ssn3 activity can modulate Flo8 and its direct and indirect interactions in different ways, and underscores the potential importance of considering Ssn3 function in the control of transcription factor activities.

Draft Genome Sequence of Filamentous Fungus Phialemoniopsis curvata, Isolated from Diesel Fuel.

Phialemoniopsis curvata D216 is a filamentous fungus isolated from contaminated diesel fuel. The genome size is 40.3 Mbp with a G+C content of 54.81%. Its genome encodes enzymes and pathways likely involved in the degradation of and survival in fuel, including lipases, fatty acid transporters, and beta oxidation.

Global Role of Cyclic AMP Signaling in pH-Dependent Responses in Candida albicans.

Candida albicans behaviors are affected by pH, an important environmental variable. Filamentous growth is a pH-responsive behavior, where alkaline conditions favor hyphal growth and acid conditions favor growth as yeast. We employed filamentous growth as a tool to study the impact of pH on the hyphal growth regulator Cyr1, and we report that downregulation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling by acidic pH contributes to the inhibition of hyphal growth in minimal medium with GlcNAc. Ras1 and Cyr1 are generally required for efficient hyphal growth, and the effects of low pH on Ras1 proteolysis and GTP binding are consistent with diminished cAMP output. Active alleles of ras1 do not suppress the hyphal growth defect at low pH, while dibutyryl cAMP partially rescues filamentous growth at low pH in a cyr1 mutant. These observations are consistent with Ras1-independent downregulation of Cyr1 by low pH. We also report that extracellular pH leads to rapid and prolonged decreases in intracellular pH, and these changes may contribute to reduced cAMP signaling by reducing intracellular bicarbonate pools. Transcriptomics analyses found that the loss of Cyr1 at either acidic or neutral pH leads to increases in transcripts involved in carbohydrate catabolism and protein translation and glycosylation and decreases in transcripts involved in oxidative metabolism, fluconazole transport, metal transport, and biofilm formation. Other pathways were modulated in pH-dependent ways. Our findings indicate that cAMP has a global role in pH-dependent responses, and this effect is mediated, at least in part, through Cyr1 in a Ras1-independent fashion. IMPORTANCECandida albicans is a human commensal and the causative agent of candidiasis, a potentially invasive and life-threatening infection. C. albicans experiences wide changes in pH during both benign commensalism (a common condition) and pathogenesis, and its morphology changes in response to this stimulus. Neutral pH is considered an activator of hyphal growth through Rim101, but the effect of low pH on other morphology-related pathways has not been extensively studied. We sought to determine the role of cyclic AMP signaling, a central regulator of morphology, in the sensing of pH. In addition, we asked broadly what cellular processes were altered by pH in both the presence and absence of this important signal integration system. We concluded that cAMP signaling is impacted by pH and that cAMP broadly impacts C. albicans physiology in both pH-dependent and -independent ways.

Regulated proteolysis of Candida albicans Ras1 is involved in morphogenesis and quorum sensing regulation.

In Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen, the small G-protein Ras1 regulates many important behaviors including white-opaque switching, biofilm formation, and the induction and maintenance of hyphal growth. Like other Ras proteins, Ras1 is activated upon guanine triphosphate binding, and its activity is further modulated by post-translational lipid modifications. Here, we report that the levels of membrane-associated, full-length Ras1 were higher in hyphae than in yeast, and that yeast contained a shorter, soluble Ras1 species that resulted from cleavage. Deletion of the putative cleavage site led to more rapid induction of hyphal growth and delayed hypha-to-yeast transitions. The cleaved Ras1 species was less able to activate its effector, adenylate cyclase (Cyr1), unless tethered to the membrane by a heterologous membrane-targeting domain. Ras1 cleavage was repressed by cAMP-signalling, indicating the presence of a positive feedback loop in which Cyr1 and cAMP influence Ras1. The C. albicans quorum sensing molecule farnesol, which inhibits Cyr1 and represses filamentation, caused an increase in the fraction of Ras1 in the cleaved form, particularly in nascent yeast formed from hyphae. This newly recognized mode of Ras regulation may control C. albicans Ras1 activity in important ways.