Recognition of galactose by a scaffold protein recruits a transcriptional activator for the GAL regulon induction in Candida albicans

  1. Xun Sun
  2. Jing Yu
  3. Cheng Zhu
  4. Xinreng Mo
  5. Qiangqiang Sun
  6. Dandan Yang
  7. Chang Su  Is a corresponding author
  8. Yang Lu  Is a corresponding author
  1. Wuhan University, China
  2. Tianjin University, China

Abstract

The GAL pathway of yeasts has long served as a model system for understanding of how regulatory mode of eukaryotic metabolic pathways evolves. While Gal4 mode has been well-characterized in Saccharomycetaceae clade, little is known about the regulation of the GAL pathway in other yeasts. Here, we find that Rep1, a Ndt80-like family transcription factor, serves as a galactose sensor in the commensal-pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. It is presented at the GAL gene promoters independent of the presence of galactose. Rep1 recognizes galactose via a direct physical interaction. The net result of this interaction is the recruitment of a transcriptional activator Cga1 (Candida galactose gene activator, orf19.4959) and transcription of the GAL genes proceeds. Rep1 and Cga1 are conserved across the CTG species. Rep1 itself does not possess transcriptional activity. Instead, it provides a scaffold to recruit different factors for transcriptional regulation. Rep1-Cga1 mode of regulation represents a new example of network rewiring in fungi, which provides insight into how C. albicans evolves transcriptional programs to colonize diverse host niches.

Data availability

The mass spectrometry proteomics data are deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium with the dataset identifier PXD037522. The ChIP-Seq data are deposited to Dryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tqjq2bw35. Source Data files have been provided in Figure 1-Source data, Figure 1-figure supplement 2-Source data, Figure 1-figure supplement 3-Source data, Figure 2-Source Data 1&2, Figure 2-figure supplement 4-Source data, Figure 3-Source Data 1&2, Figure 3-figure supplement 5-Source data 1&2, Figure 4-Source Data 1&2, and Figure 4-figure supplement 6-Source data.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Xun Sun

    TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Jing Yu

    Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis,, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Cheng Zhu

    Tianjin Key Laboratory of Function and Application of Biological Macromolecular Structures, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0260-6287
  4. Xinreng Mo

    Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Qiangqiang Sun

    Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Dandan Yang

    TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Chang Su

    Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    For correspondence
    changsu@whu.edu.cn
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Yang Lu

    TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    For correspondence
    ylu7@whu.edu.cn
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-3784-7577

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070074)

  • Yang Lu

National Natural Science Foundation of China (32170089)

  • Chang Su

National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973370)

  • Chang Su

Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (2022CFB103)

  • Chang Su

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2023, Sun et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Xun Sun
  2. Jing Yu
  3. Cheng Zhu
  4. Xinreng Mo
  5. Qiangqiang Sun
  6. Dandan Yang
  7. Chang Su
  8. Yang Lu
(2023)
Recognition of galactose by a scaffold protein recruits a transcriptional activator for the GAL regulon induction in Candida albicans
eLife 12:e84155.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84155

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https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84155

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