Candida albicans Hap43 domains are required under iron starvation but not excess

Skrahina, Volha; Brock, Matthias; Hube, Bernhard; Brunke, Sascha

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.02388

Candida albicans Hap43 domains are required under iron starvation but not excess

Skrahina, Volha; Brock, Matthias; Hube, Bernhard; Brunke, Sascha

Authors

Volha Skrahina

MATTHIAS BROCK Matthias.Brock@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Bernhard Hube

Sascha Brunke

Abstract

Iron availability is a central factor in infections, since iron is a critical micronutrient for all living organisms. The host employs both iron limitation and toxicity strategies to control microbial growth, and successful pathogens are able to tightly coordinate iron homeostasis in response to changing iron levels. As a commensal and opportunistic pathogen, Candida albicans copes with both iron deficiency and excess via the precise regulation of iron acquisition, consumption and storage. The C. albicans transcription factor Hap43 is known to be required for the iron starvation response, while specific domains of its ortholog, HapX, in Aspergillus fumigatus, were recently shown to regulate iron uptake and consumptions genes under both low and high iron levels. Therefore, we investigated the contribution of C. albicans Hap43 domains in response to changing iron levels. We found the C-terminus of Hap43 to be essential for the activation of iron uptake genes during iron starvation, whereas, in contrast to A. fumigatus, Hap43 was not required in mediating adaptation to iron resistance. These data indicate that the generally conserved metal acquisition systems in fungal pathogens can show individual adaptations to the host environment.

Citation

Skrahina, V., Brock, M., Hube, B., & Brunke, S. (2017). Candida albicans Hap43 domains are required under iron starvation but not excess. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8, Article 2388. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02388

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 20, 2017
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2017
Deposit Date	Dec 18, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Dec 18, 2017
Journal	Frontiers in Microbiology
Electronic ISSN	1664-302X
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	8
Article Number	2388
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02388
Keywords	iron homeostasis, iron deficiency and toxicity, transcriptional regulation, hemoglobin, fungal pathogenicity
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/898337
Publisher URL	https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02388/full
Contract Date	Dec 18, 2017