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Eukaryotic Cell, January 2006, p. 192-202, Vol. 5, No. 1
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/EC.5.1.192-202.2006
SST2, a Regulator of G-Protein Signaling for the Candida albicans Mating Response Pathway
Daniel Dignard1 and
Malcolm Whiteway1,2*
Genetics Group, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave., Montreal, Quebec H4P 2R2,1
Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1, Canada2
Received 5 August 2005/
Accepted 31 October 2005
Candida albicans contains a functional mating response pathway that is similar to the well-studied system of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have characterized a regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) homolog in C. albicans with sequence similarity to the SST2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Disruption of this gene, which had been designated SST2, causes an opaque MTLa/MTLa derivative of strain SC5314 to show hypersensitivity to the C. albicans
-factor. This hypersensitivity generates an enhanced cell cycle arrest detected in halo assays but reduces the overall mating efficiency of the cells. Transcriptional profiling of the pheromone-regulated gene expression in the sst2 mutant shows a pattern of gene induction similar to that observed in wild-type cells, but the responsiveness is heightened. This involvement of an RGS in the sensitivity to pheromone is consistent with the prediction that the mating response pathway in C. albicans requires the activation of a heterotrimeric G protein.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Genetics Group, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave., Montreal, Quebec H4P 2R2, Canada. Phone: (514) 496-6146. Fax: (514) 496-6213. E-mail:
malcolm.whiteway{at}cnrc-nrc.gc.ca.
This is NRC publication no. 47485.
Eukaryotic Cell, January 2006, p. 192-202, Vol. 5, No. 1
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/EC.5.1.192-202.2006
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