Integrated genomics and phenotype microarray analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae industrial strains for rice wine fermentation and recombinant protein production.

The industrial potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has extended beyond its traditional use in fermentation to various applications, including recombinant protein production. Herein, comparative genomics was performed with three industrial S. cerevisiae strains and revealed a heterozygous diploid genome for the 98-5 and KSD-YC strains (exploited for rice wine fermentation) and a haploid genome for strain Y2805 (used for recombinant protein production).

Zinc-binding domain mediates pleiotropic functions of Yvh1 in Cryptococcus neoformans.

Yvh1 is a dual-specificity phosphatase (DUSP) that is evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotes, including yeasts and humans. Yvh1 is involved in the vegetative growth, differentiation, and virulence of animal and plant fungal pathogens. All Yvh1 orthologs have a conserved DUSP catalytic domain at the N-terminus and a zinc-binding (ZB) domain with two zinc fingers (ZFs) at the C-terminus.

Genome-wide functional analysis of phosphatases in the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans.

Phosphatases, together with kinases and transcription factors, are key components in cellular signalling networks. Here, we present a systematic functional analysis of the phosphatases in Cryptococcus neoformans, a fungal pathogen that causes life-threatening fungal meningoencephalitis. We analyse 230 signature-tagged mutant strains for 114 putative phosphatases under 30 distinct in vitro growth conditions, revealing at least one function for 60 of these proteins.

Systematic functional analysis of kinases in the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans.

Cryptococcus neoformans is the leading cause of death by fungal meningoencephalitis; however, treatment options remain limited. Here we report the construction of 264 signature-tagged gene-deletion strains for 129 putative kinases, and examine their phenotypic traits under 30 distinct in vitro growth conditions and in two different hosts (insect larvae and mice). Clustering analysis of in vitro phenotypic traits indicates that several of these kinases have roles in known signalling pathways, and identifies hitherto uncharacterized signalling cascades.