Abf1 negatively regulates the expression of and affects adhesion in .

. Adherence is a major virulence trait in that, in many strains, depends on the (epithelial adhesin) genes, which confer the ability to adhere to epithelial and endothelial cells of the host. The genes are generally found at subtelomeric regions, which makes them subject to subtelomeric silencing.

Microevolution of Candida glabrata (Nakaseomyces glabrata) during an infection.

Candida glabrata (Nakaseomyces glabrata) is an emergent and opportunistic fungal pathogen that colonizes and persists in different niches within its human host. In this work, we studied five clinical isolates from one patient (P7), that have a clonal origin, and all of which come from blood cultures except one, P7-3, obtained from a urine culture. We found phenotypic variation such as sensitivity to high temperature, oxidative stress, susceptibility to two classes of antifungal agents, and cell wall porosity.

Characterization of a New Immunosuppressive and Antimicrobial Peptide, DRS-DA2, Isolated from the Mexican Frog, .

Inflammatory and antimicrobial diseases constitute a major burden for society, and fighting them is a WHO strategic priority. Most of the treatments available to fight inflammatory diseases are anti-inflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids or immunomodulators that lack cellular specificity and lead to numerous side effects. In addition to suppressing undesired inflammation and reducing disease progression, these drugs lessen the immune system protective functions.

Characterization of the Trr/Trx system in the fungal pathogen Candida glabrata.

C. glabrata, an opportunistic fungal pathogen, can adapt and resist to different stress conditions. It is highly resistant to oxidant stress compared to other Candida spp and to the phylogenetically related but non-pathogen Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Subtelomeric Chromatin Structure by Chromosome Conformation Capture (3C)-qPCR Methodology in Candida glabrata.

Chromatin architecture has an enormous impact on gene regulation, DNA replication, repair, and packaging. Chromatin is organized in a complex hierarchical manner in which distant fragments of DNA can interact with each other through DNA loops. DNA loops can interact between themselves to form topologically associated domains (TADs) that are further organized into functional compartments.

Candida glabrata Hst1-Rfm1-Sum1 complex evolved to control virulence-related genes.

C. glabrata is an opportunistic fungal pathogen and the second most common cause of opportunistic fungal infections in humans, that has evolved virulence factors to become a successful pathogen: strong resistance to oxidative stress, capable to adhere and form biofilms in human epithelial cells as well as to abiotic surfaces and high resistance to xenobiotics. Hst1 (a NAD-dependent histone deacetylase), Sum1 (putative DNA binding protein) and Rfm1 (connector protein) form a complex (HRS-C) and control the resistance to oxidative stress, to xenobiotics (the antifungal fluconazole), and adherence to epithelial cells.

Abf1 Is an Essential Protein That Participates in Cell Cycle Progression and Subtelomeric Silencing in .

Accurate DNA replication and segregation is key to reproduction and cell viability in all organisms. Autonomously replicating sequence-binding factor 1 (Abf1) is a multifunctional protein that has essential roles in replication, transcription, and regional silencing in the model yeast . In the opportunistic pathogenic fungus , which is closely related to , these processes are important for survival within the host, for example, the regulation of transcription of virulence-related genes like those involved in adherence.

Highly specific and rapid molecular detection of Candida glabrata in clinical samples.

The most common nosocomial fungal infections are caused by several species of Candida, of which Candida glabrata is the second most frequently isolated species from bloodstream infections. C. glabrata displays relatively high minimal inhibitory concentration values (MIC) to the antifungal fluconazole and is associated with high mortality rates.

Analysis of Volatile Molecules Present in the Secretome of the Fungal Pathogen .

, and are the four most common human fungal pathogens isolated that can cause superficial and invasive infections. It has been shown that specific metabolites present in the secretomes of these fungal pathogens are important for their virulence. is the second most common isolate world-wide and has an innate resistance to azoles, xenobiotics and oxidative stress that allows this fungal pathogen to evade the immune response and persist within the host.

Candida glabrata peroxiredoxins, Tsa1 and Tsa2, and sulfiredoxin, Srx1, protect against oxidative damage and are necessary for virulence.

Candida glabrata is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients. To ensure a successful infection, C. glabrata has evolved a variety of strategies to avoid killing within the host.

Chromatin Loop Formation Induced by a Subtelomeric Protosilencer Represses Genes in .

Adherence, an important virulence factor, is mediated by the (Epithelial Adhesin) genes in the opportunistic pathogen Expression of adhesin-encoding genes requires tight regulation to respond to harsh environmental conditions within the host. The majority of genes are localized in subtelomeric regions regulated by subtelomeric silencing, which depends mainly on Rap1 and the Sir proteins. adhesion to epithelial cells is primarily mediated by Epa1.

's Genome Plasticity Confers a Unique Pattern of Expressed Cell Wall Proteins.

is the second most common cause of candidemia, and its ability to adhere to different host cell types, to microorganisms, and to medical devices are important virulence factors. Here, we consider three characteristics that confer extraordinary advantages to within the host. (1) has a large number of genes encoding for adhesins most of which are localized at subtelomeric regions.

Molecular characterization of the silencing complex SIR in Candida glabrata hyperadherent clinical isolates.

An important virulence factor for the fungal pathogen Candida glabrata is the ability to adhere to the host cells, which is mediated by the expression of adhesins. Epa1 is responsible for ∼95% of the in vitro adherence to epithelial cells and is the founding member of the Epa family of adhesins. The majority of EPA genes are localized close to different telomeres, which causes transcriptional repression due to subtelomeric silencing.

Adhesins in .

The human fungal pathogen is causing more and more problems in hospitals, as this species shows an intrinsic antifungal drug resistance or rapidly becomes resistant when challenged with antifungals. only grows in the yeast form, so it is lacking a yeast-to-hyphae switch, which is one of the main virulence factors of . An important virulence factor of is its capacity to strongly adhere to many different substrates.

Npa3/ScGpn1 carboxy-terminal tail is dispensable for cell viability and RNA polymerase II nuclear targeting but critical for microtubule stability and function.

Genetic deletion of the essential GTPase Gpn1 or replacement of the endogenous gene by partial loss of function mutants in yeast is associated with multiple cellular phenotypes, including in all cases a marked cytoplasmic retention of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). Global inhibition of RNAPII-mediated transcription due to malfunction of Gpn1 precludes the identification and study of other cellular function(s) for this GTPase. In contrast to the single Gpn protein present in Archaea, eukaryotic Gpn1 possesses an extension of approximately 100 amino acids at the C-terminal end of the GTPase domain.

P2X7 from j774 murine macrophages acts as a scavenger receptor for bacteria but not yeast.

We studied the effects of extracellular ATP and Ca on uptake of bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli) and live yeast (Candida glabrata) by J774 macrophages to determine the role of endogenous P2X7 receptors in phagocytosis. Our findings show that phagocytosis of bio-particles coated with S. aureus or E.

Candida glabrata encodes a longer variant of the mating type (MAT) alpha2 gene in the mating type-like MTL3 locus, which can form homodimers.

The fungal pathogen Candida glabrata is a haploid asexual yeast. Candida glabrata contains orthologs of the genes that control mating and cell-type identity in other fungi, which encode putative transcription factors localized in the MAT locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae or MTL in other fungi. Candida glabrata contains three copies of the CgMTL locus but only CgMTL1 correctly expresses the information encoded in it.

Candida glabrata binds to glycosylated and lectinic receptors on the coronary endothelial luminal membrane and inhibits flow sense and cardiac responses to agonists.

Candida glabrata (CG) is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that initiates infection by binding to host cells via specific lectin-like adhesin proteins. We have previously shown the importance of lectin-oligosaccharide binding in cardiac responses to flow and agonists. Because of the lectinic-oligosaccharide nature of CG binding, we tested the ability of CG to alter the agonist- and flow-induced changes in cardiac function in isolated perfused guinea pig hearts.

Local and regional chromatin silencing in Candida glabrata: consequences for adhesion and the response to stress.

Candida glabrata is a fungal pathogen frequently found as a commensal in humans. To colonize and disseminate successfully in the mammalian host, C. glabrata must detect signals within the host and reprogram gene expression to respond appropriately to hostile environmental conditions.

Expression vectors for C-terminal fusions with fluorescent proteins and epitope tags in Candida glabrata.

Candida glabrata is a haploid yeast considered the second most common of the Candida species found in nosocomial infections, accounting for approximately 18% of candidemias worldwide. Even though molecular biology methods are easily adapted to study this organism, there are not enough vectors that will allow probing the transcriptional and translational activity of any gene of interest in C. glabrata.

The EPA2 adhesin encoding gene is responsive to oxidative stress in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida glabrata.

Candida glabrata has emerged as an important opportunistic pathogen in both mucosal and bloodstream infections. C. glabrata contains 67 adhesin-like glycosylphosphatidylinositol-cell-wall proteins (GPI-CWPs), which are classified into seven groups and the largest is the Epa family.

The superoxide dismutases of Candida glabrata protect against oxidative damage and are required for lysine biosynthesis, DNA integrity and chronological life survival.

The fungal pathogen Candida glabrata has a well-defined oxidative stress response, is extremely resistant to oxidative stress and can survive inside phagocytic cells. In order to further our understanding of the oxidative stress response in C. glabrata, we characterized the superoxide dismutases (SODs) Cu,ZnSOD (Sod1) and MnSOD (Sod2).

The oxidative stress response of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida glabrata.

Organisms have evolved different strategies to respond to oxidative stress generated as a by-product of aerobic respiration and thus maintain the redox homeostasis within the cell. In particular, fungal pathogens are exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) when they interact with the phagocytic cells of the host which are the first line of defense against fungal infections. These pathogens have co-opted the enzymatic (catalases, superoxide dismutases (SODs), and peroxidases) and non-enzymatic (glutathione) mechanisms used to maintain the redox homeostasis within the cell, to resist oxidative stress and ensure survival within the host.

The mating type-like loci of Candida glabrata.

Candida glabrata, a haploid and opportunistic fungal pathogen that has not known sexual cycle, has conserved the majority of the genes required for mating and cell type identity. The C. glabrata genome contains three mating-type-like loci called MTL1, MTL2 and MTL3.

Expression plasmids for use in Candida glabrata.

We describe a series of CEN/ARS episomal plasmids containing different Candida glabrata promoters, allowing for a range of constitutive or regulated expression of proteins in C. glabrata. The set of promoters includes three constitutive promoters (EGD2pr, HHT2pr, PDC1pr), two macrophage/phagocytosis-induced promoters (ACO2pr, LYS21pr), and one nutritionally regulated promoter (MET3pr).