Candida Infection Biology – fungal armoury, battlefields ... - FINSysB
Candida Infection Biology – fungal armoury, battlefields ... - FINSysB
Candida Infection Biology – fungal armoury, battlefields ... - FINSysB
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Poster number: 02<br />
The Osmotic Stress Response of <strong>Candida</strong> glabrata<br />
Emily Cook, Ken Haynes<br />
Exeter University, Biosciences- Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Rd. Exeter, EX4 4QD<br />
The osmotic stress response has been characterized in great detail in the model<br />
yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae however less is known in the opportunistic<br />
pathogen <strong>Candida</strong> glabrata. We have approached our goal of better defining the<br />
osmotic stress response in C. glabrata by using the current understanding in S.<br />
cerevisiae as a framework.<br />
Multiple differences between the described S. cerevisiae response and C. glabrata<br />
were observed. The overall osmotic stress tolerance of C. glabrata was higher than<br />
that of S. cerevisiae, as demonstrated by growth curves and plating assays. Quite<br />
interestingly, we have observed that while C. glabrata did not grow under the highest<br />
concentration of osmotic stress tested (2M NaCl) most cells remained viable when<br />
transferred to normal growth media. We have measured change in cell size of C.<br />
glabrata and S. cerevisiae and found that while S. cerevisiae decreased in size under<br />
increasing concentrations of NaCl, C. glabrata increased in size by ≈10% under all<br />
tested osmotic stress conditions. We are currently investigating biophysical<br />
differences that could explain these results and their contribution to overall osmotic<br />
stress tolerance. Glycerol production was found to be Hog1 independent as<br />
comparable glycerol levels were measured by enzymatic assay in both wild-type<br />
C. glabrata and a hog1 mutant. Differences in osmo-tolerance of single null mutants<br />
in the Hog1 pathway suggest that a Hog1 independent response may be more<br />
important in driving osmotic stress adaptation.<br />
The osmotic stress response in C. glabrata is markedly different than S. cerevisiae,<br />
highlighting the importance of further characterization of stress responses in<br />
pathogenic species, even when closely related to model organisms. We are further<br />
examining the novel mechanisms of osmotic stress adaptation in C. glabrata and<br />
their potential contributions to pathogenicity.<br />
114
Change language