The RIM101/pacC homologue from the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis is functional in multiple pH-sensitive phenomena

Mutational analysis of Candida albicans SNF7 reveals genetically separable Rim101 and ESCRT functions and demonstrates divergence in bro1-domain protein interactions

The opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans can grow over a wide pH range, which is associated with its ability to colonize and infect distinct host niches. C. albicans growth in neutral-alkaline environments requires proteolytic activation of the transcription factor Rim101. Rim101 activation requires Snf7, a member of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) pathway. We hypothesized that Snf7 has distinct functions in the Rim101 and ESCRT pathways, which we tested by alanine-scanning mutagenesis. While some snf7 alleles conferred no defects, we identified alleles with solely ESCRT-dependent, solely Rim101-dependent, or both Rim101- and ESCRT-dependent defects. Thus, Snf7 function in these two pathways is at least partially separable. Both Rim101- and ESCRT-dependent functions require Snf7 recruitment to the endosomal membrane and alleles that disrupted both pathways were found to localize normally, suggesting a downstream defect. Most alleles that conferred solely Rim101-dependent defects were still able to process Rim101 normally under steady-state conditions. However, these same strains did display a kinetic defect in Rim101 processing. Several alleles with solely Rim101-dependent defects mapped to the C-terminal end of Snf7. Further analyses suggested that these mutations disrupted interactions with bro-domain proteins, Rim20 and Bro1, in overlapping but slightly divergent Snf7 domains.

Carboxylate transporter gene JEN1 from the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is involved in conidiation and virulence

Beauveria bassiana is an important entomopathogenic fungus widely used as a biological agent to control insect pests. A gene (B. bassiana JEN1 [BbJEN1]) homologous to JEN1 encoding a carboxylate transporter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was identified in a B. bassiana transfer DNA (T-DNA) insertional mutant. Disruption of the gene decreased the carboxylate contents in hyphae, while increasing the conidial yield. However, overexpression of this transporter resulted in significant increases in carboxylates and decreased the conidial yield. BbJEN1 was strongly induced by insect cuticles and highly expressed in the hyphae penetrating insect cuticles not in hyphal bodies, suggesting that this gene is involved in the early stage of pathogenesis of B. bassiana. The bioassay results indicated that disruption of BbJEN1 significantly reduced the virulence of B. bassiana to aphids. Compared to the wild type, DeltaBbJEN1 alkalinized the insect cuticle to a reduced extent. The alkalinization of the cuticle is a physiological signal triggering the production of pathogenicity. Therefore, we identified a new factor influencing virulence, which is responsible for the alkalinization of the insect cuticle and the initiation of fungal pathogenesis in insects.

How human pathogenic fungi sense and adapt to pH: the link to virulence

The ability of fungal pathogens to cause disease is dependent on the ability to grow within the human host environment. In general, the human host environment can be considered a slightly alkaline environment, and the ability of fungi to grow at this pH is essential for pathogenesis. The Rim101 signal transduction pathway is the primary pH sensing pathway described in the pathogenic fungi, and in Candida albicans, it is required for a variety of diseases. As more detailed analyses have been conducted studying pathogenesis at the molecular level, it has become clear that the Rim101 pathway, and pH responses in general, play an intimate role in pathogenesis beyond simply allowing the organism to grow. Here, several recent advances into Rim101-dependent functions implicated in disease progression are discussed.

Roles of the pH signaling transcription factor PacC in Wangiella (Exophiala) dermatitidis

To study the function of the PacC transcription factor in Wangiella dermatitidis, a black, polymorphic fungal pathogen of humans with yeast-phase predominance, the PACC gene was cloned, sequenced, disrupted and expressed. Three zinc finger DNA-binding motifs were found at the N-terminus, and a signaling protease cleavage site at the C-terminus. PACC was more expressed at neutral-alkaline pH than at acidic pH. Truncation at about 40 residues of the coding sequence upstream of the conserved protease processing cleavage site of PacC affected growth on a nutrient-rich medium, increased sensitivity to Na(+) stress, decreased yeast growth at neutral-alkaline pH, and repressed hyphal growth on a nutrient-poor medium at 25 degrees C. Truncation at the coding sequence for the conserved signaling protease box of PacC impaired growth and reduced RNA expression of the class II chitin synthase gene at acidic pH. The results suggested that PacC is important not only for the adaptation of W. dermatitidis to different ambient pH conditions and Na(+) stress conditions, but also for influencing yeast-hyphal transitions in this agent of phaeohyphomycosis.

Growth at high pH and sodium and potassium tolerance in media above the cytoplasmic pH depend on ENA ATPases in Ustilago maydis

Potassium and Na(+) effluxes across the plasma membrane are crucial processes for the ionic homeostasis of cells. In fungal cells, these effluxes are mediated by cation/H(+) antiporters and ENA ATPases. We have cloned and studied the functions of the two ENA ATPases of Ustilago maydis, U. maydis Ena1 (UmEna1) and UmEna2. UmEna1 is a typical K(+) or Na(+) efflux ATPase whose function is indispensable for growth at pH 9.0 and for even modest Na(+) or K(+) tolerances above pH 8.0. UmEna1 locates to the plasma membrane and has the characteristics of the low-Na(+)/K(+)-discrimination ENA ATPases. However, it still protects U. maydis cells in high-Na(+) media because Na(+) showed a low cytoplasmic toxicity. The UmEna2 ATPase is phylogenetically distant from UmEna1 and is located mainly at the endoplasmic reticulum. The function of UmEna2 is not clear, but we found that it shares several similarities with Neurospora crassa ENA2, which suggests that endomembrane ENA ATPases may exist in many fungi. The expression of ena1 and ena2 transcripts in U. maydis was enhanced at high pH and at high K(+) and Na(+) concentrations. We discuss that there are two modes of Na(+) tolerance in fungi: the high-Na(+)-content mode, involving ENA ATPases with low Na(+)/K(+) discrimination, as described here for U. maydis, and the low-Na(+)-content mode, involving Na(+)-specific ENA ATPases, as in Neurospora crassa.

Ambient pH signalling in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica involves YlRim23p/PalC, which interacts with Snf7p/Vps32p, but does not require the long C terminus of YlRim9p/PalI

A conserved ambient pH signal transduction pathway has been evidenced in both ascomycetous yeasts and filamentous fungi, called the Rim or Pal pathway, respectively. However, closely related PalC orthologues are found only in Yarrowia lipolytica and in filamentous fungi, where the Rim9p/PalI factor has a much longer C-terminal tail than in other yeasts. We show here that, like Aspergillus nidulans palI mutants, a Ylrim9Delta mutant has a less extreme phenotype than other mutants of the pathway, whereas rim9 mutants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans reportedly exhibit a tight Rim phenotype. Deletion of the long C-terminal tail of YlRim9p/PalI had no phenotypic effect on ambient pH signalling. We also show that the Y. lipolytica PalC orthologue, named YlRim23p, is absolutely required for the alkaline pH response. Its only interactant identified in a genome-wide two-hybrid screen is YlSnf7/Vps32p, confirming the link between the Rim and the Vps pathways. YlRim13p and YlRim20p both interact with YlSnf7/Vps32p but not with YlRim23p. The long C-terminal tail of YlRim9p/PalI interacts neither with YlRim23p nor with YlSnf7/Vps32p. These results show that YlRim23p is a bona fide component of the Rim pathway in Y. lipolytica and that it participates in the complexes linking pH signalling and endocytosis.

Candida albicans transcription factor Rim101 mediates pathogenic interactions through cell wall functions

pH-responsive transcription factors of the Rim101/PacC family govern virulence in many fungal pathogens. These family members control expression of target genes with diverse functions in growth, morphology and environmental adaptation, so the mechanistic relationship between Rim101/PacC and infection is unclear. We have focused on Rim101 from Candida albicans, which we find to be required for virulence in an oropharyngeal candidiasis model. Rim101 affects the yeast-hypha morphological transition, a major virulence requirement in disseminated infection models. However, virulence in the oropharyngeal candidiasis model is independent of the yeast-hypha transition because it is unaffected by an nrg1 mutation, which prevents formation of yeast cells. Here we have identified Rim101 target genes in an nrg1Delta/Delta mutant background and surveyed function using an overexpression-rescue approach. Increased expression of Rim101 target genes ALS3, CHT2, PGA7/RBT6, SKN1 or ZRT1 can partially restore pathogenic interaction of a rim101Delta/Delta mutant with oral epithelial cells. Four of these five genes govern cell wall structure. Our results indicate that Rim101-dependent cell wall alteration contributes to C. albicans pathogenic interactions with oral epithelial cells, independently of cell morphology.

Adaptation to environmental pH: integrating the Rim101 and calcineurin signal transduction pathways

The ability to appropriately respond to environmental conditions is critical for the survival of simple microbes and for development of complex multicellular organisms. Sensing and responding to a given environmental condition requires the integration of numerous signals through one or more signal transduction pathways. This leads to changes in gene expression, and potentially post-translational modifications, that favour growth in the given environment. In the fungus Candida albicans, an important opportunistic pathogen, environmental pH has profound effects on morphology and proper adaptation to extracellular pH is critical for pathogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that the Rim101/PacC pH-sensing pathway acts in parallel to Crz1, via calcineurin, to adapt to alkaline pH. We also show that the Rim101 pathway acts in parallel to Crz2, independent of calcineurin, to adapt to high lithium concentrations and to repress filamentation at acidic pH. Our studies also revealed a novel requirement for Crz1, Crz2 and calcineurin for growth at acidic pH. From these studies, we propose that the Crz1 homologue Crz2 is calcineurin-independent, but like Crz1, acts in parallel to promote specific Rim101-dependent processes. These results establish and begin to dissect the complex interactions between important signal transduction pathways in C. albicans, which are critical for virulence.

The Colletotrichum acutatum gene encoding a putative pH-responsive transcription regulator is a key virulence determinant during fungal pathogenesis on citrus

Postbloom fruit drop of citrus and Key lime anthracnose (KLA) are caused by different pathotypes of Colletotrichum acutatum. Both pathotypes are pathogenic to citrus flowers, resulting in blossom blight and induction of young fruit abscission. Two fungal mutants defective in pathogenicity were recovered from a KLA pathotype after Agrobacterium-mediated mutagenesis. A PacC(KLAP2) gene encoding a polypeptide that resembles many pH-responsive PacC/ Rim101 transcription regulators in fungi was identified from one of the mutants, and functionally characterized to play a crucial role in pathogenesis to both Key lime leaves and citrus flowers. Gene disruption at the Pac(KLAP2) locus created fungal mutants that were hypersensitive to alkaline pH, altered in conidium and appressorium production and germination, and concomitant with reduced virulence to both tissues. The pacC(KLAP2) null mutants had lower alkaline phosphatase and protease activities, but increased pectolytic and lipolytic activities. The mutants initiated penetration and incited lesion formation on Key lime, indistinguishable from the wild type, when a functional copy of PacC(KLAP2) was reintroduced or the leaves were wounded prior to inoculation. The null mutants were blocked at the penetration stage and, thus, failed to initiate the necrotrophic phase. The PacC(KLAP2) transcript was barely detectable when the fungus was grown on medium buffered to pH 3 or 4, yet accumulated to high levels at a pH between 5 and 7. The Pac(KLAP2) transcript was detected 2 days postinoculation on Key lime leaves, correlating with the time of lesion formation. We conclude that PacC(KLAP2) is essential for C. acutatum pathogenesis by regulating multiple physiological and developmental processes.

Evidence for novel pH-dependent regulation of Candida albicans Rim101, a direct transcriptional repressor of the cell wall beta-glycosidase Phr2

Candida albicans is a commensal fungus of mucosal surfaces that can cause disease in susceptible hosts. One aspect of the success of C. albicans as both a commensal and a pathogen is its ability to adapt to diverse environmental conditions, including dramatic variations in environmental pH. The response to a neutral-to-alkaline pH change is controlled by the Rim101 signal transduction pathway. In neutral-to-alkaline environments, the zinc finger transcription factor Rim101 is activated by the proteolytic removal of an inhibitory C-terminal domain. Upon activation, Rim101 acts to induce alkaline response gene expression and repress acidic response gene expression. Previously, recombinant Rim101 was shown to directly bind to the alkaline-pH-induced gene PHR1. Here, we demonstrate that endogenous Rim101 also directly binds to the alkaline-pH-repressed gene PHR2. Furthermore, we find that of the three putative binding sites, only the -124 site and, to a lesser extent, the -51 site play a role in vivo. In C. albicans, the predicted Rim101 binding site was thought to be CCAAGAA, divergent from the GCCAAG site defined in Aspergillus nidulans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our results suggest that the Rim101 binding site in C. albicans is GCCAAGAA, but slight variations are tolerated in a context-dependent fashion. Finally, our data suggest that Rim101 activity is governed not only by proteolytic processing but also by an additional mechanism not previously described.