DISRUPTION OF THE SNF1 GENE ABOLISHES TREHALOSE UTILIZATION IN THE PATHOGENIC YEAST CANDIDA-GLABRATA

The SNF1 gene product, a serine/threonine protein kinase, is a global regulatory protein which has been isolated from several organisms, In Saccharomgces cerevisiae the SNF1 gene product is essential for the de repression of glucose repression since snf1 strains are unable to util ize sucrose, galactose, maltose, melibiose, or nonfermentable carbohyd rates. Moreover, the SNF1 gene product was suggested to interact with additional regulatory pathways and to affect the expression of multipl e target genes as reflected by the pleiotropic nature of the snf1 muta tion. Here,ve report the characterization of the SNF1 homolog of Candi da glabrata, a pathogenic yeast phylogenetically related to S. cerevis iae, The carbon utilization spectrum of C. glabrata is considerably na rrower than that of other pathogenic yeasts, and the majority of the s trains utilize solely glucose and trehalose from among 20 of the most commonly tested carbohydrates. Disruption of the C. glabrata SNF1 homo log resulted in the loss of the ability to utilize trehalose, indicati ng that even in an organism With such a limited carbon utilization spe ctrum, the regulatory mechanism governing catabolic repression is pres erved.