Authors:

Ethan C Tuttle

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About Paper:

Cdc14 phosphatase is a highly conserved member of the dual-specificity subfamily of the protein tyrosine phosphatases. Cdc14 is important for virulence of numerous fungal pathogens of plants, humans, and insects. Our lab wants to understand the function of Cdc14 that makes it required for pathogenic fungi to infect their host. In Candida albicans, an opportunistic human pathogen, Cdc14 contributes to fungal cell wall integrity. I have used the auxin-inducible degradation (AID) system to determine if Cdc14-related cell wall phenotypes in C. albicans are also observed in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this system, Cdc14 gets rapidly degraded after auxin addition. In C. albicans, the resulting Cdc14 deficiency leads to increased cell wall thickness, cell size, and wall chitin content. To look for these same phenotypes in S. cerevisiae, I utilized transmission electron microscopy to quantify cell wall thickness and fluorescence microscopy to quantify cell size and chitin content. I also used biochemical assays to measure the amount of beta-glucan, mannan, and chitin present in fungal cell walls. I found that most of the cell wall phenotypes previously discovered in C. albicans were also present in S. cerevisiae. I conclude that this function of Cdc14 is conserved in diverse fungi and may underlie the requirement for virulence in fungal pathogens. Keywords: Microbiology; Fungal Pathogens; Cell Wall Regulation; Cdc14 Phosphatase

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Ethan C Tuttle