Deletion of the Stress Response Gene from Increases Sensitivity to Oxidative Stress, Increases Susceptibility to Antifungals, and Decreases Fitness in Macrophages.

The stress response gene has been characterized in and to be involved in combating various cellular stressors, from oxidative agents to antifungal compounds. Surprisingly, the biological function of has yet to be identified, though it is likely an important part of the stress response. To gain insight into its function, we characterized in the dimorphic fungal pathogen . Transcriptional analyses showed preferential expression of in the mycelial phase. Induction of in yeasts developed after treatment with various cellular stress compounds. We generated a deletion mutant to further characterize function. Loss of alters the transcriptional profile of the oxidative stress response and membrane synthesis pathways. Treatment with ROS or antifungal compounds reduced survival of yeasts compared to controls, consistent with an aberrant cellular stress response. In addition, we infected RAW 264.7 macrophages with -expressing and yeasts and observed a 50% decrease in recovery of yeasts compared to wild-type yeasts. Loss of function results in numerous negative effects in yeasts, highlighting its role as a key player in the global sensing and response to cellular stress by fungi.