This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tang, R. J.
Right arrow Articles by Mylonakis, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Tang, R. J.
Right arrow Articles by Mylonakis, E.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, December 2005, p. 8219-8225, Vol. 73, No. 12
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.12.8219-8225.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cryptococcus neoformans Gene Involved in Mammalian Pathogenesis Identified by a Caenorhabditis elegans Progeny-Based Approach

Robin J. Tang,1 Julia Breger,1 Alexander Idnurm,2 Kimberly J. Gerik,3 Jennifer K. Lodge,3,4 Joseph Heitman,2,6,7,8 Stephen B. Calderwood,1,5 and Eleftherios Mylonakis1*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114,1 Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology,2 Division of Infectious Diseases,6 Department of Medicine,7 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710,8 Edward A. Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,3 Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri 63104,4 Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021145

Received 2 August 2005/ Returned for modification 10 September 2005/ Accepted 21 September 2005

Caenorhabditis elegans can serve as a substitute host for the study of microbial pathogenesis. We found that mutations in genes of the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans involved in mammalian virulence allow C. elegans to produce greater numbers of progeny than when exposed to wild-type fungus. We used this property to screen a library of C. neoformans mutants for strains that permit larger C. elegans brood sizes. In this screen, we identified a gene homologous to Saccharomyces cerevisiae ROM2. C. neoformans rom2 mutation resulted in a defect in mating and growth defects at elevated temperature or in the presence of cell wall or hyperosmolar stresses. An effect of the C. neoformans rom2 mutation in virulence was confirmed in a murine inhalation infection model. We propose that a screen for progeny-permissive mutants of microorganisms can serve as a high-throughput method for identifying novel loci related to mammalian pathogenesis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Massachusetts General Hospital, Gray-Jackson 504, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114. Phone: (617) 726-3811. Fax: (617) 726-7416. E-mail: emylonakis{at}partners.org.

Editor: A. Casadevall

Infection and Immunity, December 2005, p. 8219-8225, Vol. 73, No. 12
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.12.8219-8225.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Idnurm, A., Walton, F. J., Floyd, A., Reedy, J. L., Heitman, J. (2009). Identification of ENA1 as a Virulence Gene of the Human Pathogenic Fungus Cryptococcus neoformans through Signature-Tagged Insertional Mutagenesis. Eukaryot Cell 8: 315-326 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fuchs, B. B., Tegos, G. P., Hamblin, M. R., Mylonakis, E. (2007). Susceptibility of Cryptococcus neoformans to Photodynamic Inactivation Is Associated with Cell Wall Integrity. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51: 2929-2936 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Alper, S., McBride, S. J., Lackford, B., Freedman, J. H., Schwartz, D. A. (2007). Specificity and Complexity of the Caenorhabditis elegans Innate Immune Response. Mol. Cell. Biol. 27: 5544-5553 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fan, W., Idnurm, A., Breger, J., Mylonakis, E., Heitman, J. (2007). Eca1, a Sarcoplasmic/Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase, Is Involved in Stress Tolerance and Virulence in Cryptococcus neoformans. Infect. Immun. 75: 3394-3405 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»