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Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2003, p. 8189-8201, Vol. 23, No. 22
0270-7306/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.22.8189-8201.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification and Characterization of a Candida albicans Mating Pheromone

Richard J. Bennett, M. Andrew Uhl, Mathew G. Miller, and Alexander D. Johnson*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143

Received 6 June 2003/ Returned for modification 18 July 2003/ Accepted 11 August 2003

Candida albicans, the most prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, has recently been shown to undergo mating. Here we describe a mating pheromone produced by C. albicans {alpha} cells and show that the gene which encodes it (MF{alpha}) is required for {alpha} cells, but not a cells, to mate. We also identify the receptor for this mating pheromone as the product of the STE2 gene and show that this gene is required for the mating of a cells, but not {alpha} cells. Cells of the a mating type respond to the {alpha} mating pheromone by producing long polarized projections, similar to those observed in bona fide mating mixtures of C. albicans a and {alpha} cells. During this process, transcription of approximately 62 genes is induced. Although some of these genes correspond to those induced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by S. cerevisiae {alpha}-factor, most are specific to the C. albicans pheromone response. The most surprising class encode cell surface and secreted proteins previously implicated in virulence of C. albicans in a mouse model of disseminated candidiasis. This observation suggests that aspects of cell-cell communication in mating may have been evolutionarily adopted for host-pathogen interactions in C. albicans.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 600 16th St., Suite N372, San Francisco, CA 94143-2200. Phone: (415) 476-8783. Fax: (415) 502-4315. E-mail: ajohnson{at}cgl.ucsf.edu.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 2003, p. 8189-8201, Vol. 23, No. 22
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.22.8189-8201.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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