The Role of IME4 in cell fate determination

描述（由申请人提供）：目的/假设：Fink博士实验室最近的工作表明，IME4（减数分裂基因的早期诱导剂）在a/ α控制下作为决定细胞是否进行减数分裂或成丝的开关，并产生反义转录物。由于酿酒葡萄球菌的IME4与丝化途径存在联系，且白色念珠菌的IME4基因调控区同时存在IME4同源物和MTL a1/alpha2结合位点，我的假设是a1/alpha2在酿酒葡萄球菌的IME4反义和义表达中发挥调控作用，IME4在酿酒葡萄球菌中的调控在白色念珠菌中是保守的。这种调节机制可能对白色念珠菌从酵母菌到丝状生长的重要病理形态转换有潜在的影响。具体目的：1 .确定IME4在酿酒葡萄球菌细胞命运决定中的作用及调控机制。2。阐明白色念珠菌IME4的调控功能及机制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Objective/Hypothesis: Recent work from Dr. Fink's laboratory suggests that IME4 (early inducer of meiosis gene) acts as a switch in determining whether cells will undergo meiosis or filament and produces an antisense transcript under a/alpha control. Because of the connection between IME4 and the filamentation pathway in S. cerevisiae, and since there is both an IME4 homolog and MTL a1/alpha2 binding sites in the gene regulatory regions of C. albicans' IME4, my hypothesis is that a1/alpha2 plays a role in regulating IME4 antisense and sense expression and that IME4 regulation in S. cerevisiae is conserved in C. albicans. This regulatory mechanism is likely to have potential implications in the C. albicans' pathogenically important morphological switch from yeast to filamentous growth. Specific Aims: I. Determine the role and regulatory mechanism of IME4 in cell-fate determination in S. cerevisiae. II. Elucidate the function and mechanism of regulation of C. albicans' IME4.