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Infection and Immunity, September 1999, p. 4870-4878, Vol. 67, No. 9
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Control of Filament Formation in Candida albicans by Polyamine Levels

Ana B. Herrero,1 M. Carmen López,1 Susana García,1 Axel Schmidt,2 Frank Spaltmann,2 José Ruiz-Herrera,3 and Angel Dominguez1,*

Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, IMB/CSIC, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain1; The Institute for Antiinfective Research, Bayer AG, 42096 Wuppertal, Germany2; and Departamento de Ingeniería Genética, IPN, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico3

Received 1 April 1999/Returned for modification 4 May 1999/Accepted 28 May 1999

Candida albicans, the most common fungal pathogen, regulates its cellular morphology in response to environmental conditions. The ODC gene, which encodes ornithine decarboxylase, a key enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, was isolated and disrupted. Homozygous null Candida mutants behaved as polyamine auxotrophs and grew exclusively in the yeast form at low polyamine levels (0.01 mM putrescine) under all conditions tested. An increase in the polyamine concentration (10 mM putrescine) restored the capacity to switch from the yeast to the filamentous form. The strain with a deletion mutation also showed increased sensitivity to salts and calcofluor white. This Candida odc/odc mutant was virulent in a mouse model. The results suggest a model in which polyamine levels exert a pleiotrophic effect on transcriptional activity.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Edifico Departamental, Avda. del Campo Charro s/n., 37007 Salamanca, Spain. Phone: 34-923294677. Fax: 34-923224876. E-mail: ado{at}gugu.usal.es.

Infection and Immunity, September 1999, p. 4870-4878, Vol. 67, No. 9
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

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