The CRZ1/SP1-like gene links survival under limited aeration, cell integrity and biofilm formation in the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.

Aims: Limited aeration has been demonstrated to cause slowdown in proliferation and delayed budding, resulting eventually in a unique unbudded G2-arrest in the obligate aerobic pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Also, the ability to adapt to decreased oxygen levels during pathogenesis has been identified as a virulence factor in C. neoformans.

Towards understanding cell cycle control in Cryptococcus neoformans: structure-function relationship of G1 and G1/S cyclins homologue CnCln1.

We have previously reported that only a single Cdk1-related G1 and G1/S cyclin homologue was found in the genome sequence of the pathogenic basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) and designated it CnCln1. Surprisingly, CnCln1 was not only able to complement the function of the G1 cyclins of the ascomycetous budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S.

Scanning and negative-staining electron microscopy of protoplast regeneration of a wild-type and two chitin synthase mutants in the pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata.

Protoplast regeneration of a wild-type and two mutant strains of Candida glabrata defective in CHS3 homologues encoding class IV chitin synthase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was examined by scanning and negative-staining electron microscopy. In the wild-type strain, small particles and short filaments appeared on the protoplast surface at 10 min, filamentous materials covered the entire surface of the protoplast at 1 h, granular materials started filling interspaces of filamentous materials at 2 h and regeneration was completed at 6 h. The filamentous materials consisted of microfibrils of various widths ranging from ≤5 to 40 nm, and composed of β-glucan.

The single Cdk1-G1 cyclin of Cryptococcus neoformans is not essential for cell cycle progression, but plays important roles in the proper commitment to DNA synthesis and bud emergence in this yeast.

The cell cycle pattern of the pathogenic basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans differs from that of the ascomycetous budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To clarify the cell cycle control mechanisms at the molecular level, homologues of cell cycle control genes in C. neoformans were cloned and analyzed.

[Cell cycle control and CDC28/Cdc2 homologue and related gene cloning of Cryptococcus neoformans].

In Cryptococcus neoformans the DNA content of cells having tiny buds varied rather widely, depending on growth phases and strains used. Typically, buds of C. neoformans emerged soon after initiation of DNA synthesis in the early exponential phase.

Regulatory role of hepatocyte nuclear factor-4alpha on gastric choriocarcinoma function.

Gastric choriocarcinoma is a highly aggressive carcinoma, most probably originating from somatic cells in the gastric mucosal layer. We herein investigated the regulatory role of hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-4alpha, a transcriptional regulator expressed in non-neoplastic and neoplastic gastric tissues, on functions of gastric choriocarcinoma cells. HNF-4alpha cDNA was stably transfected to a gastric choriocarcinoma cell line, SCH.

Fluconazole-resistant pathogens Candida inconspicua and C. norvegensis: DNA sequence diversity of the rRNA intergenic spacer region, antifungal drug susceptibility, and extracellular enzyme production.

The opportunistic fungal pathogens Candida inconspicua and C. norvegensis are very rarely isolated from patients and are resistant to fluconazole. We collected 38 strains of the two microorganisms isolated from Europe and Japan, and compared the polymorphism of the rRNA intergenic spacer (IGS) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, antifungal drug susceptibility, and extracellular enzyme production as a potential virulence factor.

Isolation of a CDC28 homologue from Cryptococcus neoformans that is able to complement cdc28 temperature-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A partial cDNA fragment of the Cryptococcus neoformans homologue of the main cell cycle control gene CDC28/cdc2 was isolated using degenerate primer RT-PCR. A subsequent search in the C. neoformans genome database identified several sequences similar to CDC28/cdc2.