Identification of an arginine transporter in Candida glabrata

Arginine is a proteinogenic amino acid that organisms additionally exploit both for nitrogen storage and as a stress protectant. The location of arginine, whether intra- or extracellular, is important in maintaining physiological homeostasis. Here, we identified an arginine transporter ortholog of the emerging fungal pathogenic Candida glabrata. Blast searches revealed that the C. glabrata genome contains two potential orthologs of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae arginine transporter gene CAN1 (CAGL0J08162g and CAGL0J08184g). We then found that CAGL0J08162g is stably located on the plasma membrane and performs cellular uptake of arginine. Moreover, CAGL0J08162-disrupted cells of C. glabrata showed a partial resistance to canavanine, a toxic analog of arginine. Our data suggest that CAGL0J08162g is a key arginine transporter in the pathogenic C. glabrata (CgCan1).