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Increased number of glutamine repeats in the C-terminal of Candida albicans Rlm1p enhances the resistance to stress agents

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Abstract

The highly polymorphic microsatellite CAI described for Candida albicans genotyping was found to be located within the RLM1 gene which codes for a transcription factor from the MADS box family that, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is known to regulate the expression of genes involved in the cell wall integrity pathway. The aim of this work was to study CAI genetic variability in a wide group of C. albicans isolates and determine the response of genetic variants to cell wall damaging stress agents. One hundred twenty-three C. albicans isolates were genotyped with CAI microsatellite (CAA/G)n, and 35 alleles were found with repeat units varying from 11 to 49. Alleles with less than 29 repetitions were the most frequent, while the longer ones were underrepresented and had a more complex internal structure. Combinations of RLM1 alleles generated 66 different genotypes. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in the susceptibility patterns to menadione, hydrogen peroxide, SDS, acetic acid, and CFW, stress agents affecting cell integrity, were found between strains harbouring alleles ranging from 17 to 28 repetitions and strains with longer alleles, suggesting that an increased number of repetitive units in the C. albicans RLM1 gene could be related to stress response.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Claude Pujol and Timothy Lott for providing part of the strains used in this study. We are also indebted to Adelaide Alves (Hospital de S. Marcos, Braga) and Cidália Pina-Vaz (Hospital de S. João, Porto) for providing the clinical isolates. Magda Graça is gratefully acknowledged for operating the nucleic acid sequencer. This research was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, through a multi-year contract with Centro de Biologia da Universidade do Minho.

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  1. Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Paula Sampaio, Eugénia Nogueira, Ana Sá Loureiro, Yolanda Delgado-Silva, Alexandra Correia & Célia Pais

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  1. Paula Sampaio
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  2. Eugénia Nogueira
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  3. Ana Sá Loureiro
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  4. Yolanda Delgado-Silva
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  5. Alexandra Correia
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  6. Célia Pais
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Correspondence to Célia Pais.

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Sampaio, P., Nogueira, E., Loureiro, A.S. et al. Increased number of glutamine repeats in the C-terminal of Candida albicans Rlm1p enhances the resistance to stress agents. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 96, 395–404 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-009-9352-5

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