DLH1 is a Functional Candida albicans Homologue of the Meiosis-Specific Gene DMC1

Abstract

Abstract DMC1/LIM15 homologue 1 (DLH1), a gene related to meiosis-specific genes, has been isolated from Candida albicans, a fungus thought not to undergo meiosis. The deduced protein sequence of DLH1 contains 74% amino acid identity with Dmclp from Saccharomyces cermisiae and 63% with Liml5p from the plant Lilium long)lmm, meiosisspecific homologues of Escherichia coli RecA. Candida DLH1 complements a dmcl/dmcl null mutant in S. cermisiae: High copy expression of DLH1 restores both sporulation and meiotic recombination to a Saccharomyces dmclΔ/dmclΔ strain. Unlike the DMCl gene, which is transcribed only in meiotic cells, the heterologous Candida DLH1 gene is transcribed in both vegetative and meiotic cells of S. cermisiae. Transcription of DLH1 is not detected or induced in C. albicans under conditions that induce DMC1 and meiosis in S. cermisiae. The presence of an intact homologue of a meiosis-specific gene in C. albicans raises the possibility that this organism has a cryptic meiotic pathway.