Studies on molecular mechanics of Candida albicans virulence gene regulation by the TEA transcription factor CaTec1p

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The conserved TEA transcription factor CaTec1p regulates morphogenetic development and virulence attributes of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Over-expression of CaTEC1 rescues virulence defects of several types of signal transduction mutants and exacerbates virulence of a C. albicans wild-type strain. The proposed research project will investigate the underlying mechanisms of i. induction of specific target promoters by CaTec1p, ii. the structure-function relationship of CaTec1p, and iii. interaction of CaTec1p with other regulatory proteins. The promoters of CaTec1p-dependent genes will be used to identify a CaTec1p-binding DNA motif. This motif will be further analysed during hyphal formation and infection with an in vivo expression reporter system. Different functions will be assigned to the deduced amino acid sequence of the CaTec1p protein by functional complementation of the catec1/catec1 mutant with modified CaTEC1 alleles. The genes of CaTec1p-bindig proteins will be cloned by a yeast-two-hybrid screen of cDNA libraries, which will be generated from developmentally different cells during the life cycle of C. albicans.