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Eukaryotic Cell, December 2007, p. 2214-2221, Vol. 6, No. 12
1535-9778/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00284-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Expression and Characterization of the Flocculin Flo11/Muc1, a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mannoprotein with Homotypic Properties of Adhesion{triangledown}

Lois M. Douglas,{dagger},{ddagger} Li Li,{dagger},§ Yang Yang, and A. M. Dranginis*

Department of Biological Sciences, St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, New York 11439

Received 5 September 2006/ Accepted 22 August 2007

The Flo11/Muc1 flocculin has diverse phenotypic effects. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells of strain background {Sigma}1278b require Flo11p to form pseudohyphae, invade agar, adhere to plastic, and develop biofilms, but they do not flocculate. We show that S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus strains, on the other hand, exhibit Flo11-dependent flocculation and biofilm formation but do not invade agar or form pseudohyphae. In order to study the nature of the Flo11p proteins produced by these two types of strains, we examined secreted Flo11p, encoded by a plasmid-borne gene, in which the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor sequences had been replaced by a histidine tag. A protein of approximately 196 kDa was secreted from both strains, which upon purification and concentration, aggregated into a form with a very high molecular mass. When secreted Flo11p was covalently attached to microscopic beads, it conferred the ability to specifically bind to S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus cells, which flocculate, but not to {Sigma}1278b cells, which do not flocculate. This was true for the 196-kDa form as well as the high-molecular-weight form of Flo11p, regardless of the strain source. The coated beads bound to S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus cells expressing FLO11 and failed to bind to cells with a deletion of FLO11, demonstrating a homotypic adhesive mechanism. Flo11p was shown to be a mannoprotein. Bead-to-cell adhesion was inhibited by mannose, which also inhibits Flo11-dependent flocculation in vivo, further suggesting that this in vitro system is a useful model for the study of fungal adhesion.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY 11439. Phone: (718) 990-1651. Fax: (718) 990-5958. E-mail: drangina{at}stjohns.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 5 October 2007.

{dagger} L.M.D. and L.L. contributed equally to this work.

{ddagger} Present address: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5222.

§ Present address: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724.

Eukaryotic Cell, December 2007, p. 2214-2221, Vol. 6, No. 12
1535-9778/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00284-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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