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ECB-ART-47377
Sci Rep 2019 Aug 15;91:11923. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-48433-5.
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The regulation of the sulfur amino acid biosynthetic pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans: the relationship of Cys3, Calcineurin, and Gpp2 phosphatases.

de Melo AT , Martho KF , Roberto TN , Nishiduka ES , Machado J , Brustolini OJB , Tashima AK , Vasconcelos AT , Vallim MA , Pascon RC .


Abstract
Cryptococcosis is a fungal disease caused by C. neoformans. To adapt and survive in diverse ecological niches, including the animal host, this opportunistic pathogen relies on its ability to uptake nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen, iron, phosphate, sulfur, and amino acids. Genetic circuits play a role in the response to environmental changes, modulating gene expression and adjusting the microbial metabolism to the nutrients available for the best energy usage and survival. We studied the sulfur amino acid biosynthesis and its implications on C. neoformans biology and virulence. CNAG_04798 encodes a BZip protein and was annotated as CYS3, which has been considered an essential gene. However, we demonstrated that CYS3 is not essential, in fact, its knockout led to sulfur amino acids auxotroph. Western blots and fluorescence microscopy indicated that GFP-Cys3, which is expressed from a constitutive promoter, localizes to the nucleus in rich medium (YEPD); the addition of methionine and cysteine as sole nitrogen source (SD-N + Met/Cys) led to reduced nuclear localization and protein degradation. By proteomics, we identified and confirmed physical interaction among Gpp2, Cna1, Cnb1 and GFP-Cys3. Deletion of the calcineurin and GPP2 genes in a GFP-Cys3 background demonstrated that calcineurin is required to maintain Cys3 high protein levels in YEPD and that deletion of GPP2 causes GFP-Cys3 to persist in the presence of sulfur amino acids. Global transcriptional profile of mutant and wild type by RNAseq revealed that Cys3 controls all branches of the sulfur amino acid biosynthesis, and sulfur starvation leads to induction of several amino acid biosynthetic routes. In addition, we found that Cys3 is required for virulence in Galleria mellonella animal model.

PubMed ID: 31417135
PMC ID: PMC6695392
Article link: Sci Rep


Genes referenced: LOC105444942 LOC115917929 LOC115919910 LOC588695 pelp1


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References [+] :
Alspaugh, Signal transduction pathways regulating differentiation and pathogenicity of Cryptococcus neoformans. 1998, Pubmed