ISSN:
1365-2958
Quelle:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Thema:
Biologie
,
Medizin
Notizen:
Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen with a defined sexual cycle in which the α allele of the mating type locus is linked to virulence and haploid differentiation. Here we analysed a conserved MAP kinase cascade composed of mating-type specific (Ste11α, Ste12α) and non-specific (Ste7, Cpk1) elements. Gene disruption experiments demonstrate that this specialized MAP kinase pathway is required for both mating and cell type-specific differentiation but not for virulence. The Ste11α, Ste7 and Cpk1 kinases were found to act as a co-ordinate signalling module, whereas the Ste12α transcription factor functions with a redundant partner or in a branched or parallel signalling pathway. Our studies illustrate how MAP kinase cascades can be constructed from cell type-specific and non-specific components, yielding pathways that contribute to cell type-specific patterns of signalling and differentiation.
Materialart:
Digitale Medien
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03563.x
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