Candida albicans HEX1 gene, a reporter of gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The Candida albicans HEX1 gene was examined as a reporter of gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The galactose-inducible S. cerevisiae GAL1-GAL10 promoter was inserted upstream of the C. albicans HEX1 gene, which encodes N-acetylglucosaminidase. The gene was introduced into S. cerevisiae AH22, which has no background N-acetylglucosaminidase activity. Expression of HEX1 in transformed cells was induced significantly by galactose and was repressed by glucose. The HEX1 gene product was functional in S. cerevisiae cells and was targeted to the periplasm. Both untransformed S. cerevisiae cells and cells expressing HEX1 had similar growth curves and cell morphology indicating that expression of N-acetylglucosaminidase was not toxic to the host strain. These results demonstrate that the HEX1 gene can be a useful reporter of gene expression in S. cerevisiae.