CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CSP37, A NOVEL GENE ENCODING A PUTATIVE MEMBRANE-PROTEIN OF CANDIDA-ALBICANS

In the course of an analysis of the functions and assembly of the cell wall of Candida albicans, we have cloned and characterized a gene, wh ich we designated CSP37 (cell surface protein), encoding a 37-kDa poly peptide which is a membrane-associated protein, The gene was isolated by immunological screening of a DNA library constructed from mycelial cells with a polyclonal serum raised against cell walls of this morpho logy, Analysis of the nucleotide sequence of a corresponding genomic D NA fragment revealed a single open reading frame which encodes a predi cted protein of 321 amino acids with no significant homology to others in the databases, Disruption of the CSP37 gene by the method describe d by Fonzi and Irwin (Genetics 134:717-728, 1993) eliminated expressio n of the Csp37 protein, The mutant strains showed no apparent defect i n cell viability, growth, or cell wall assembly but displayed attenuat ed virulence in systemic infections induced in mice and reduced the ab ility to adhere to polystyrene.