DLH1 is a functional Candida albicans homologue of the meiosis-specific gene DMC1

Abstract

DMC1/LIM15 homologue 1 (DLH1), a gene related to meiosis-specific genes, has been isolated from Candida albicans, a fungus thought not to undergo meiosis. The deduced protein sequence of DLH1 contains 74% amino acid identity with Dmc1p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and 63% with Lim15p from the plant Lilium longiflorum, meiosis-specific homologues of Escherichia coli RecA. Candida DLH1 complements a dmc1/dmc1 null mutant in S. cerevisiae. High copy expression of DLH1 restores both sporulation and meiotic recombination to a Saccharomyces dmc1 delta/dmc1 delta strain. Unlike the DMC1 gene, which is transcribed only in meiotic cells, the heterologous Candida DLH1 gene is transcribed in both vegetative and meiotic cells of S. cerevisiae. Transcription of DLH1 is not detected or induced in C. albicans under conditions that induce DMC1 and meiosis in S. cerevisiae. The presence of an intact homologue of a meiosis-specific gene in C. albicans raises the possibility that this organism has a cryptic meiotic pathway.