A Candida albicans chaperonin subunit (CaCct8p) as a suppressor of morphogenesis and Ras phenotypes in C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the pathogen Candida albicans can be induced to undergo morphogenesis from a yeast to a filamentous form. A C. albicans gene (CaCCT8) was identified encoding a subunit of the Cct chaperonin complex, whose expression prevents filament formation in both fungi without interfering with growth of the yeast form. In S. cerevisiae, pseudohyphal growth induced by Ras2Val19, by overproduction of Phd1p or by expression of the C. albicans EFG1 gene, was blocked by CaCct8p and its N-terminally deleted derivative CaCct8-delta1p; in contrast, pseudohyphal induction by other components (Cph1p, Cdc42p) could not be suppressed, indicating that morphogenesis per se is not inhibited. CaCCT8 expression also interfered with other Ras2pVal19 phenotypes, including heat sensitivity, lack of glycogen accumulation and lack of sporulation. In C. albicans, overproduction of CaCct8p effectively blocked hyphal morphogenesis induced by starvation conditions and by serum. The results suggest that the activity of a component in the Ras2p signal transduction pathway is suppressed by excess chaperonin subunits. This component may be a novel folding target for the Cct complex. In agreement with this hypothesis, disruption of one of the two CaCCT8 alleles in C. albicans led to defective hyphal morphogenesis.