Potassium Uptake Mediated by Trk1 Is Crucial for Candida glabrata Growth and Fitness

0459360 - FGÚ 2017 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Llopis-Torregrosa, Vincent - Hušeková, Barbora - Sychrová, Hana
Potassium Uptake Mediated by Trk1 Is Crucial for Candida glabrata Growth and Fitness.
PLoS ONE. Roč. 11, č. 4 (2016), e0153374. ISSN 1932-6203. E-ISSN 1932-6203
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP302/12/1151; GA ČR(CZ) GA16-03398S
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 606786 - ImResFun
Institutional support: RVO:67985823
Keywords : Candida glabrata * potassium uptake * Trk1 protein
Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology
Impact factor: 2.806, year: 2016

The maintenance of potassium homeostasis is crucial for all types of cells, including Candida glabrata. The C. glabrata genome contains only one gene encoding putative system for potassium uptake, the Trk1 uniporter. Therefore, its importance in maintaining adequate levels of intracellular potassium appears to be critical for C. glabrata cells. In this study, we first confirmed the potassium-uptake activity of the identified gene’s product by heterologous expression in a suitable S. cerevisiae mutant, further we generated a corresponding deletion mutant in C. glabrata and analysed its phenotype in detail. The obtained results show a pleiotropic effect on the cell physiology when CgTRK1 is deleted, affecting not only the ability of trk1delta to grow at low potassium concentrations, but also the tolerance to toxic alkali-metal cations and cationic drugs, as well as the membrane potential and intracellular pH. Taken together, our results find the sole potassium uptake system in C. glabrata cells to be a promising target in the search for its specific inhibitors and in developing new antifungal drugs.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0259575