Nutrition-dependent modulations of proteins synthesis in Candida albicans during germ-tube formation or maintenance of the yeast form in N-acetyl-d-glucosamine media.

Abstract Stationary phase, yeast-form cells of Candida albicans grown in glucose-yeast extract medium were shifted to N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and/or glucose medium, and the pattern of protein synthesized under conditions of a progressive decrease in the rate of total protein synthesis was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. Marked temporal modulations in the rate of synthesis of some cytoplasmic proteins were detected both in cells forming germ-tubes (at 37°C) and in yeast cells (at 28°C). The major modulated components showed molecular weights of 63, 53, 48 and 34 kDa. These products could not be qualified as heat-shock or heat-stroke proteins, because analogous modulations were observed on shifting cells from 28°C to 37°C or from 28°C to 28°C. However, no marked modulations in the synthesis of specific proteins were detected when amino acids were added to the medium fostering germ-tube formation under conditions of unimpaired overall rate of protein synthesis. It is suggested that the modulations observed in cells incubated in GlcNAc-glucose medium could represent a response to a nutritional stress.