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Eukaryotic Cell, December 2003, p. 1350-1360, Vol. 2, No. 6
1535-9778/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.2.6.1350-1360.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

MF{alpha}1, the Gene Encoding the {alpha} Mating Pheromone of Candida albicans{dagger}

Sneh L. Panwar,1 Melanie Legrand,1 Daniel Dignard,2 Malcolm Whiteway,2 and Paul. T. Magee1*

Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455,1 Biotechnology Research Institute, Genetics Group, Montreal, Quebec H4P 2R2, Canada2

Received 31 July 2003/ Accepted 22 August 2003

Candida albicans, the single most frequently isolated human fungal pathogen, was thought to be asexual until the recent discovery of the mating-type-like locus (MTL). Homozygous MTL strains were constructed and shown to mate. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that opaque-phase cells are more efficient in mating than white-phase cells. The similarity of the genes involved in the mating pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and C. albicans includes at least one gene (KEX2) that is involved in the processing of the {alpha} mating pheromone in the two yeasts. Taking into account this similarity, we searched the C. albicans genome for sequences that would encode the {alpha} pheromone gene. Here we report the isolation and characterization of the gene MF{alpha}1, which codes for the precursor of the {alpha} mating pheromone in C. albicans. Two active {alpha}-peptides, 13 and 14 amino acids long, would be generated after the precursor molecule is processed in C. albicans. To examine the role of this gene in mating, we constructed an mf{alpha}1 null mutant of C. albicans. The mf{alpha}1 null mutant fails to mate as MTL{alpha}, while MTLa mf{alpha}1 cells are still mating competent. Experiments performed with the synthetic {alpha}-peptides show that they are capable of inducing growth arrest, as demonstrated by halo tests, and also induce shmooing in MTLa cells of C. albicans. These peptides are also able to complement the mating defect of an MTL{alpha} kex2 mutant strain when added exogenously, thereby confirming their roles as {alpha} mating pheromones.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: 6-160 Jackson Hall, 321 Church St. S.E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: (612) 624-7280. Fax: (612) 624-0426. E-mail: ptm{at}biosci.cbs.umn.edu.

{dagger} NRC publication number 46156.

Eukaryotic Cell, December 2003, p. 1350-1360, Vol. 2, No. 6
1535-9778/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.2.6.1350-1360.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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Copyright © 2003 by the American Society for Microbiology.