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J Bacteriol, April 1998, p. 2079-2086, Vol. 180, No. 8
Department of Biotechnology, The University
of Tokyo, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan
Received 21 August 1997/Accepted 17 February 1998
Additional copies of the centromeric DNA (CEN) region induce
pseudohyphal growth in a dimorphic yeast, Candida maltosa
(T. Nakazawa, T. Motoyama, H. Horiuchi, A. Ohta, and M. Takagi, J. Bacteriol. 179:5030-5036, 1997). To understand the mechanism of this
transition, we screened the gene library of C. maltosa for sequences which could suppress this morphological change. As a result,
we isolated the 5' end of a new gene, EPD1 (for essential for pseudohyphal development), and then cloned the entire gene. The
predicted amino acid sequence of Epd1p was highly homologous to those
of Ggp1/Gas1/Cwh52p, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Phr1p and Phr2p of
Candida albicans. The expression of EPD1 was
moderately regulated by environmental pH. A homozygous EPD1
null mutant showed some morphological defects and reduction in growth
rate and reduced levels of both alkali-soluble and alkali-insoluble
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Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Isolation and Characterization of EPD1,
an Essential Gene for Pseudohyphal Growth of a Dimorphic Yeast,
Candida maltosa
-glucans. Moreover, the mutant could not undergo the transition from
yeast form to pseudohyphal form induced by additional copies of the CEN
sequence at pH 4 or by n-hexadecane at pH 4 or pH 7, suggesting that EPD1 is not essential for yeast form growth
but is essential for transition to the pseudohyphal form.
Overexpression of the amino-terminal part of Epd1p under the control of
the GAL promoter suppressed the pseudohyphal development induced by additional copies of the CEN sequence, whereas
overexpression of the full-length EPD1 did not. This result
and the initial isolation of the 5' end of EPD1 as a
suppressor of the pseudohyphal growth induced by the CEN sequence
suggest that the amino-terminal part of Epd1p may have a
dominant-negative effect on the functions of Epd1p in the pseudohyphal
growth induced by the CEN sequence.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biotechnology, The University of Tokyo, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan. Phone: 81-3-3812-2111, ext. 5169. Fax: 81-3-3812-9246. E-mail:
amtakag{at}hongo.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
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