Systematic phenotyping of a large-scale Candida glabrata deletion collection reveals novel antifungal tolerance genes

PLoS Pathog. 2014 Jun 19;10(6):e1004211. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004211. eCollection 2014 Jun.

Abstract

The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida glabrata is a frequent cause of candidiasis, causing infections ranging from superficial to life-threatening disseminated disease. The inherent tolerance of C. glabrata to azole drugs makes this pathogen a serious clinical threat. To identify novel genes implicated in antifungal drug tolerance, we have constructed a large-scale C. glabrata deletion library consisting of 619 unique, individually bar-coded mutant strains, each lacking one specific gene, all together representing almost 12% of the genome. Functional analysis of this library in a series of phenotypic and fitness assays identified numerous genes required for growth of C. glabrata under normal or specific stress conditions, as well as a number of novel genes involved in tolerance to clinically important antifungal drugs such as azoles and echinocandins. We identified 38 deletion strains displaying strongly increased susceptibility to caspofungin, 28 of which encoding proteins that have not previously been linked to echinocandin tolerance. Our results demonstrate the potential of the C. glabrata mutant collection as a valuable resource in functional genomics studies of this important fungal pathogen of humans, and to facilitate the identification of putative novel antifungal drug target and virulence genes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Azoles / pharmacology*
  • Biofilms / growth & development
  • Candida glabrata / genetics*
  • Candida glabrata / growth & development
  • Candidiasis / drug therapy
  • Caspofungin
  • Cell Wall / drug effects
  • Cell Wall / genetics
  • Drug Resistance, Fungal / genetics*
  • Echinocandins / pharmacology*
  • Fungal Proteins / genetics
  • Gene Deletion
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Gene Library
  • Lipopeptides
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Osmotic Pressure
  • Phenotype

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Azoles
  • Echinocandins
  • Fungal Proteins
  • Lipopeptides
  • Caspofungin