Molecular mechanisms of resistance to 5-fluorocytosine in laboratory mutants of Candida glabrata

Mycopathologia. 2011 Jan;171(1):11-21. doi: 10.1007/s11046-010-9342-1. Epub 2010 Jul 9.

Abstract

Resistance to 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) has been poorly investigated in the yeast Candida glabrata. This study was conducted on laboratory mutants obtained by exposure of a wild-type isolate to 5-FC. Based on their susceptibility to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), two of these mutants were selected for further analysis of the molecular mechanisms of 5-FC resistance. One mutant, resistant to both compounds, exhibited a missense mutation in the gene coding the cytosine deaminase and a decrease in the expression level of the gene coding the uridine monophosphate pyrophosphorylase. The other mutant that showed a reduced susceptibility to 5-FC and 5-FU exhibited an overexpression of the genes coding the thymidylate synthase and a cytosine permease, associated with a missense mutation in the last gene. Thus, beside mutations in the FUR1 gene which represent the most common cause of resistance to 5-FC, other mechanisms may also occur in C. glabrata.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology*
  • Candida glabrata / drug effects*
  • Cytosine Deaminase / genetics
  • DNA Mutational Analysis
  • Drug Resistance, Fungal*
  • Flucytosine / pharmacology*
  • Fluorouracil / pharmacology
  • Gene Expression
  • Mutation, Missense
  • Pentosyltransferases / biosynthesis
  • Thymidylate Synthase / biosynthesis

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Flucytosine
  • Thymidylate Synthase
  • Pentosyltransferases
  • uracil phosphoribosyltransferase
  • Cytosine Deaminase
  • Fluorouracil