Related Research Articles
Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast that is a common member of the human gut flora. It can also survive outside the human body. It is detected in the gastrointestinal tract and mouth in 40–60% of healthy adults. It is usually a commensal organism, but it can become pathogenic in immunocompromised individuals under a variety of conditions. It is one of the few species of the genus Candida that causes the human infection candidiasis, which results from an overgrowth of the fungus. Candidiasis is, for example, often observed in HIV-infected patients. C. albicans is the most common fungal species isolated from biofilms either formed on (permanent) implanted medical devices or on human tissue. C. albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, and C. glabrata are together responsible for 50–90% of all cases of candidiasis in humans. A mortality rate of 40% has been reported for patients with systemic candidiasis due to C. albicans. By one estimate, invasive candidiasis contracted in a hospital causes 2,800 to 11,200 deaths yearly in the US. Nevertheless, these numbers may not truly reflect the true extent of damage this organism causes, given new studies indicating that C. albicans can cross the blood brain barrier.
Karyogamy is the final step in the process of fusing together two haploid eukaryotic cells, and refers specifically to the fusion of the two nuclei. Before karyogamy, each haploid cell has one complete copy of the organism's genome. In order for karyogamy to occur, the cell membrane and cytoplasm of each cell must fuse with the other in a process known as plasmogamy. Once within the joined cell membrane, the nuclei are referred to as pronuclei. Once the cell membranes, cytoplasm, and pronuclei fuse together, the resulting single cell is diploid, containing two copies of the genome. This diploid cell, called a zygote or zygospore can then enter meiosis, or continue to divide by mitosis. Mammalian fertilization uses a comparable process to combine haploid sperm and egg cells (gametes) to create a diploid fertilized egg.
Robert G. Roeder is an American biochemist. He is known as a pioneer scientist in eukaryotic transcription. He discovered three distinct nuclear RNA polymerases in 1969 and characterized many proteins involved in the regulation of transcription, including basic transcription factors and the first mammalian gene-specific activator over five decades of research. He is the recipient of the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2000, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2003, and the Kyoto Prize in 2021. He currently serves as Arnold and Mabel Beckman Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Biochemical and Molecular Biology at The Rockefeller University.
Phenotypic switching is switching between multiple cellular morphologies. David R. Soll described two such systems: the first high frequency switching system between several morphological stages and a second high frequency switching system between opaque and white cells. The latter is an epigenetic switching system
Two-hybrid screening is a molecular biology technique used to discover protein–protein interactions (PPIs) and protein–DNA interactions by testing for physical interactions between two proteins or a single protein and a DNA molecule, respectively.
The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a simple single-celled eukaryote with both a diploid and haploid mode of existence. The mating of yeast only occurs between haploids, which can be either the a or α (alpha) mating type and thus display simple sexual differentiation. Mating type is determined by a single locus, MAT, which in turn governs the sexual behaviour of both haploid and diploid cells. Through a form of genetic recombination, haploid yeast can switch mating type as often as every cell cycle.
Mating in fungi is a complex process governed by mating types. Research on fungal mating has focused on several model species with different behaviour. Not all fungi reproduce sexually and many that do are isogamous; thus, for many members of the fungal kingdom, the terms "male" and "female" do not apply. Homothallic species are able to mate with themselves, while in heterothallic species only isolates of opposite mating types can mate.
Dimorphic fungi are fungi that can exist in the form of both mold and yeast. This is usually brought about by change in temperature and the fungi are also described as thermally dimorphic fungi. An example is Talaromyces marneffei, a human pathogen that grows as a mold at room temperature, and as a yeast at human body temperature.
Histone demethylase UTY is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the UTY gene.
A killer yeast is a yeast, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is able to secrete one of a number of toxic proteins which are lethal to susceptible cells. These "killer toxins" are polypeptides that kill sensitive cells of the same or related species, often functioning by creating pores in target cell membranes. These yeast cells are immune to the toxic effects of the protein due to an intrinsic immunity. Killer yeast strains can be a problem in commercial processing because they can kill desirable strains. The killer yeast system was first described in 1963. Study of killer toxins helped to better understand the secretion pathway of yeast, which is similar to those of more complex eukaryotes. It also can be used in treatment of some diseases, mainly those caused by fungi.
Snf3 is a protein which regulates glucose uptake in yeast. It senses glucose in the environment with high affinity.
David R. Soll is a Professor of Biology at the University of Iowa. He is best known for the motion analysis of living cells, the discovery of Candida albicans phenotypic switching and monoclonal antibody technology. He directed the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank from 1995-2021, and the WM Keck Dynamic Image Analysis Facility from 1985-2021. He is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2006. He has published over 400 articles in various fields of biomedicine, and has received more than 78 grants and contracts, founded four companies, and is active on several editorial boards for major scientific publications.
Hwp1 is a protein (glycoprotein) located on the surface of an opportunistic diploid fungus called Candida albicans.
Fungal adhesins are proteins located on the surface of fungal cells, specifically found on the outside of the cell wall. They allow fungi to colonize various substrates and to bind to host tissues. Adhesion to tissue is an obligatory first step in pathogenesis by many yeasts. Adhesins also have other functions, such as mating and biofilm formation.
Beatrice B. "Bebe" Magee is an American biochemist and geneticist with expertise in molecular mycology and fungal genetics. She earned her B. A. in chemistry from Brandeis University in 1962 and her M. A. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964. She has been co-author on over 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals and an invited speaker at scientific meetings including Woods Hole and Cold Spring Harbor courses as well as at professional mycology societies.
Kaustuv Sanyal is an Indian molecular biologist, mycologist and a professor at the Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). He is known for his molecular and genetic studies of pathogenic yeasts such as Candida and Cryptococcus). An alumnus of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya and Madurai Kamaraj University from where he earned a BSc in agriculture and MSc in biotechnology respectively, Sanyal did his doctoral studies at Bose Institute to secure a PhD in Yeast genetics. He moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA to work in the laboratory of John Carbon on the discovery of centromeres in Candida albicans. He joined JNCASR in 2005. He is a member of the Faculty of 1000 in the disciplines of Microbial Evolution and Genomics and has delivered invited speeches which include the Gordon Research Conference, EMBO conferences on comparative genomics and kinetochores. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2012. He has also been awarded with the prestigious Tata Innovation Fellowship in 2017. The National Academy of Sciences, India elected him as a fellow in 2014. He is also an elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (2017), and the Indian National Science Academy (2018). In 2019, he has been elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology.
CRZ1, short for Calcineurin-Responsive Zinc Finger 1, is a transcription factor that regulates calcineurin dependent-genes in Candida albicans.
Christina M. Hull is an American mycologist and Professor in the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Carol Kumamoto is an American microbiologist who is Professor of Molecular Biology & Microbiology at Tufts University. She investigates the filamentous growth of Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen that causes several diseases. She is also interested in how C. albicans interacts with its host during colonisation and invasive diseases. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Microbiology.
Frank C. Odds was an expert in medical mycology. He studied Candida albicans, establishing how modern researchers study fungal pathogens and the diseases they cause.
References
- ↑ "Alexander (Sandy) Johnson, PhD". UCSF Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ↑ "Alexander D. Johnson". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Davis, T. H. (August 2014). "Profile of Alexander D. Johnson". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (33): 11912–11914. Bibcode:2014PNAS..11111912D. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1413659111 . PMC 4143024 . PMID 25114229.
- ↑ "Alexander (Sandy) D. Johnson, PhD". Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ↑ "Alexander-Sandy Johnson, PhD". Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. Retrieved 2020-11-13.