Phosphatidylinositol-dependent phospholipases C Plc2 and Plc3 of Candida albicans are dispensable for morphogenesis and host-pathogen interaction

Res Microbiol. 2005 Aug;156(7):822-9. doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2005.04.007.

Abstract

Phospholipases play an important role as virulence factors in human pathogens. Candida albicans, the major fungal pathogen of humans, encodes phospholipases of type A, B, C and D. Type B Plb2 and type D Pld1 phospholipases have been shown to contribute to virulence in this organism. We analyzed, in C. albicans, PLC2 and PLC3, two highly conserved genes coding for phosphatidylinositol-dependent phospholipases C with homology to the known virulence factor PlcA in the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. We show that expression of PLC2 and PLC3 is upregulated under different filament-inducing conditions and in the constitutive filamentous mutant tup1Delta. In order to analyze PLC2 and PLC3 function in C. albicans, we constructed strains that carry PLC2 or PLC3 under a constitutive promoter and strains that lack all four PLC2/3 alleles. These strains were not affected in their ability to produce filaments under non-inducing conditions, nor was filamentation modified under inducing conditions, suggesting that PLC2/3 are not critical determinants of the yeast-to-hypha switch. In a cell culture model for macrophage interaction, phagocytosis of C. albicans and subsequent killing were not influenced by PLC2/3. These results demonstrate that C. albicans PLC2 and PLC3 are dispensable for virulence; moreover, they underline the sharp contrast with the function of plcA in L. monocytogenes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Candida albicans / cytology
  • Candida albicans / enzymology*
  • Candida albicans / genetics
  • Candida albicans / growth & development*
  • Cell Line
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • Fungal Proteins / physiology
  • Gene Deletion
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal
  • Genes, Fungal
  • Hyphae / cytology
  • Hyphae / genetics
  • Hyphae / growth & development
  • Macrophages / microbiology
  • Mice
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Morphogenesis
  • Phagocytosis
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Type C Phospholipases / chemistry
  • Type C Phospholipases / genetics*
  • Type C Phospholipases / metabolism*
  • Virulence

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins
  • Type C Phospholipases