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  • The EMBO Journal (1999) 18, 2580 - 2592
  • doi:10.1093/emboj/18.9.2580

Phenotypic switching in Candida albicans is controlled by a SIR2 gene

José Pérez-Martín1,2, José Antonio Uría3 and Alexander D. Johnson1,4

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0414, USA
  2. Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Madrid 28049, Spain
  3. Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0414, USA
  4. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0414, USA

Correspondence to:

Alexander D. Johnson, E-mail: ajohnson@socrates.ucsf.edu

Received 17 November 1998; Accepted 16 February 1999; Revised 16 February 1999

We report the cloning of a gene from the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans with sequence and functional similarity to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SIR2 gene. Deletion of the gene in C.albicans produces a dramatic phenotype: variant colony morphologies arise at frequencies as high as 1 in 10. The morphologies resemble those described previously as part of a phenotypic switching system proposed to contribute to pathogenesis. Deletion of SIR2 also produces a high frequency of karyotypic changes. These and other results are consistent with a model whereby Sir2 controls phenotypic switching and chromosome stability in C.albicans by organizing chromatin structure.

  • Keywords:

    • Candida albicans,
    • heterochromatin,
    • phenotypic switching,
    • SIR2 gene