JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Szaniszlo, P. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wang, Z.
Right arrow Articles by Szaniszlo, P. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2000, p. 874-881, Vol. 182, No. 4
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

WdCHS3, a Gene That Encodes a Class III Chitin Synthase in Wangiella (Exophiala) dermatitidis, Is Expressed Differentially under Stress Conditions

Zheng Wang and Paul J. Szaniszlo*

Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712

Received 8 July 1999/Accepted 15 November 1999

Class III chitin synthases are important for hyphal growth in some filamentous fungi but are not found in yeasts. Using a specific PCR product that encodes a portion of the class III chitin synthase of W. dermatitidis as a probe, we isolated the chitin synthase gene, WdCHS3, from this polymorphic melanized pathogen of humans. Northern blotting showed that WdCHS3 was highly expressed under stress conditions, such as the shift of cells to temperatures commensurate with infection, or to conditions that induce cellular morphogenesis in this fungus. Analysis of the 5' upstream sequence of WdCHS3 provided evidence for a negative regulatory element at between -780 and -1600 bp. Western blotting indicated that the production of the WdChs3p was temperature dependent and temporally regulated. Disruption of WdCHS3 in a wild-type strain and in two temperature-sensitive morphological mutants resulted in significantly reduced chitin synthase activities but did not obviously affect their morphologies, growth rates, chitin contents, or virulence. This paradox suggested that the contributions of the high levels of WdCHS3 gene expression and WdChs3p production in strains subjected to stress reside in unknown or unexamined parts of the life cycle of this ecologically poorly known member of the Fungi Imperfecti. Nonetheless, this report presents the first evidence that transcription of a chitin synthase gene is regulated by a negative regulatory element in its 5' upstream sequence.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1095. Phone: (512) 471-3384. Fax: (512) 471-7088. E-mail: pjszaniszlo{at}mail.utexas.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2000, p. 874-881, Vol. 182, No. 4
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.