Polymorphism in the regulatory regions of genes CgYPS1 and CgYPS7 encoding yapsins in Candida glabrata is associated with changes in expression levels.

Candida glabrata is an opportunistic fungus infecting mainly immunocompromised people. Its adherence capacity and exoenzymes contribute to damaging host cells. In particular, the yapsins are a family of aspartyl proteases involved in maturation of proteins and cell wall function, and yapsins 1 and 7, respectively encoded by genes CgYPS1 and CgYPS7, are potential virulence factors. In this study, the polymorphism of regulatory regions and the expression profiles of both genes were compared in C. glabrata clinical strains. The sequence analysis of regulatory regions revealed that the distribution of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) was similar, although some TFBSs were not universally distributed. The quantita-tive expression of CgYPS1 and CgYPS7 genes of different C. glabrata strains in rich and poor media was estimated by RT-qPCR. The primary sequences of genes CgYPS1 and CgYPS7 of C. glabrata strains were highly conserved among different strains, but the regulatory regions were polymorphic, harboring different TFBS arrays, and showing differential expression profiles.