Transcriptional Analysis Allows Genome Reannotation and Reveals that Cryptococcus gattii VGII Undergoes Nutrient Restriction during Infection

Microorganisms

Rodrigo Silva Araujo Streit¹  Rita Maria Cunha de Almeida²  Patricia Ribeiro dos Santos³  Charley Christian Staats³  Patrícia Aline Gröhs Ferrareze³  Livia Kmetzsch³  Marilene Henning Vainstein³  Francine Melise dos Santos³  Augusto Schrank³ 

[1] Departamento de Biologia Molecular e Biotecnologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501970 Porto Alegre, Brazil;Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501970 Porto Alegre, Brazil;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular, Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), 91501970 Porto Alegre, Brazil;

关键词: Cryptococcus gattii;    R265;    transcriptome;    genome;    annotation;    amino acid;    bronchoalveolar lavage;    cryptococcosis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/microorganisms5030049

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Cryptococcus gattii is a human and animal pathogen that infects healthy hosts and caused the Pacific Northwest outbreak of cryptococcosis. The inhalation of infectious propagules can lead to internalization of cryptococcal cells by alveolar macrophages, a niche in which C. gattii cells can survive and proliferate. Although the nutrient composition of macrophages is relatively unknown, the high induction of amino acid transporter genes inside the phagosome indicates a preference for amino acid uptake instead of synthesis. However, the presence of countable errors in the R265 genome annotation indicates significant inhibition of transcriptomic analysis in this hypervirulent strain. Thus, we analyzed RNA-Seq data from in vivo and in vitro cultures of C. gattii R265 to perform the reannotation of the genome. In addition, based on in vivo transcriptomic data, we identified highly expressed genes and pathways of amino acid metabolism that would enable C. gattii to survive and proliferate in vivo. Importantly, we identified high expression in three APC amino acid transporters as well as the GABA permease. The use of amino acids as carbon and nitrogen sources, releasing ammonium and generating carbohydrate metabolism intermediaries, also explains the high expression of components of several degradative pathways, since glucose starvation is an important host defense mechanism.

【 授权许可】

Unknown