Asymmetric distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine in C-albicans: Possible mediation by CDR1, a multidrug transporter belonging to ATP binding cassette (ABC) superfamily

By using two molecular probes, we demonstrate that only 4% of total phospha tidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) in the plasma membrane (PM) of a human pathogeni c yeast, Candida albicans, is present in its external half. Evidence is pre sented to show that the availability of PtdEtn could be related to the expr ession of a multidrug transporter CDR1 of C. albicans, and the process is e nergy-dependent. A homozygous CDR1 disruptant strain of C, albicans shows a lmost 23% reduction in the external labelling of PtdEtn. This report shows that, similar to human MDRs, yeast multidrug transporter could also be invo lved in aminophospholipid translocation. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & So ns, Ltd.