Identification of genes differentially expressed in association with reduced azole susceptibility in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Objective: An isolate of S. cerevisiae with reduced susceptibility to fluconazole and itraconazole was developed in the laboratory and used to identify genes that are differentially expressed in association with this phenotype. Methods: S. cerevisiae strain ATCC 9763 was passaged in increasing concentrations of itraconazole. Itraconazole and fluconazole MiCs for the initial isolate (9763S) were 2 and 16 mg/L and for the final isolate (97631) were 16 and greater than or equal to64 mg/L, respectively. Duplicate sets of total RNA from 9763S and 97631 were isolated and hybridized to Affymetrix S98 yeast arrays. To validate results, six differentially expressed genes were further examined by RT-PCR. Results: Of the nearly 6400 open reading frames represented on the array, a total of 116 genes (1.8%) were found to be differentially expressed. Cell wall maintenance genes TIR4 and CCW12, sterol metabolism gene UPC2, small molecule transport genes AUS1 and YHK8, and stress response gene CUP1-1 were expressed at a level at least 2.5-fold higher than the expression level found in 9763S. Eleven energy generation genes, ionic homeostasis genes FRE1, FRE2and FRE4, and sterol metabolism genes ERG8 and ERG13 were expressed at least 2.5-fold lower than the expression level found in 9763S. Conclusions: Several genes found to be differentially expressed in this study have been shown previously to be differentially expressed in the fungal response to azole treatment. In addition, the potential role of AUS1 and/or YHK8 as mediators of drug efflux is intriguing and warrants further study.