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Eukaryotic Cell, December 2004, p. 1513-1524, Vol. 3, No. 6
1535-9778/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.3.6.1513-1524.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cas3p Belongs to a Seven-Member Family of Capsule Structure Designer Proteins

Frédérique Moyrand,1 Yun C. Chang,2 Uwe Himmelreich,3 Kyung J. Kwon-Chung,2 and Guilhem Janbon1*

Unité de Mycologie Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France,1 Max-Planck-Institute for Neurological Research, Cologne, Germany,3 Molecular Microbiology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland2

Received 27 July 2004/ Accepted 16 September 2004

The polysaccharide capsule is the main virulence factor of the basidiomycetous yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Four genes (CAP10, CAP59, CAP60, and CAP64) essential for capsule formation have been previously identified, although their roles in the biosynthetic pathway remain unclear. A genetic and bioinformatics approach allowed the identification of six CAP64-homologous genes, named CAS3, CAS31, CAS32, CAS33, CAS34, and CAS35, in the C. neoformans genome. This gene family is apparently specific in a subclass of the basidiomycete fungi. Single as well as double deletions of these genes in all possible combinations demonstrated that none of the CAP64-homologous genes were essential for capsule formation, although the cas35{Delta} strains displayed a hypocapsular phenotype. The chemical structure of the glucuronomannan (GXM) produced by the CAS family deletants revealed that these genes determined the position and the linkage of the xylose and/or O-acetyl residues on the mannose backbone. Hence, these genes are all involved in assembly of the GXM structure in C. neoformans.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité de Mycologie Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: (33) 1 45688356. Fax: (33) 1 45688420. E-mail: janbon{at}pasteur.fr.

Eukaryotic Cell, December 2004, p. 1513-1524, Vol. 3, No. 6
1535-9778/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/EC.3.6.1513-1524.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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