Identification and Characterization of a Candida albicans Mating Pheromone

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Abstract
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 α cells and show that the gene which encodes it (MFα) is required for α 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 α cells. Cells of the a mating type respond to the α mating pheromone by producing long polarized projections, similar to those observed in bona fide mating mixtures of C. albicans a and α 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 α-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.