Transcriptome Analysis Unveils Gln3 Role in Amino Acids Assimilation and Fluconazole Resistance in Candida glabrata

After , is one of the most common fungal species associated with candidemia in nosocomial infections. Rapid acquisition of nutrients from the host is important for the survival of pathogens which possess the metabolic flexibility to assimilate different carbon and nitrogen compounds. In , nitrogen assimilation is controlled through a mechanism known as Nitrogen Catabolite Repression (NCR). NCR is coordinated by the action of four GATA factors; two positive regulators, Gat1 and Gln3, and two negative regulators, Gzf3 and Dal80. A mechanism in similar to NCR in has not been broadly studied. We previously showed that in , Gln3, and not Gat1, has a major role in nitrogen assimilation as opposed to what has been observed in in which both factors regulate NCR-sensitive genes. Here, we expand the knowledge about the role of Gln3 from through the transcriptional analysis of BG14 and strains. Approximately, 53.5% of the detected genes were differentially expressed (DEG). From these DEG, amino acid metabolism and ABC transporters were two of the most enriched KEGG categories in our analysis (Up-DEG and Down-DEG, respectively). Furthermore, a positive role of Gln3 in AAA assimilation was described, as was its role in the transcriptional regulation of . Finally, an unexpected negative role of Gln3 in the gene regulation of ABC transporters and and its associated transcriptional regulator was found. This observation was confirmed by a decreased susceptibility of the strain to fluconazole.