Candida albicans exoglucanase as a reporter gene in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The Candida albicans XOG1 gene, previously shown to be a good reporter gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and C. albicans, was tested in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Unlike the budding yeast, S. pombe does not produce exoglucanase activity and hence this system would be applicable to any given strain of this organism. The XOG1 gene was located under the control of the nmt1 promoter and its functionality could be demonstrated even at high temperatures (37 degrees C). The exoglucanase activity can be measured both in vivo and in vitro by either a simple biochemical reaction (on cells or media) or by flow cytometry, because the cells remain viable after the assay.