Gene Deletion in Candida albicans Wild-Type Strains Using the SAT1-Flipping Strategy

Abstract

Targeted gene inactivation is an important method to investigate gene function. In the diploid yeast Candida albicans, the generation of homozygous knock-out mutants requires the sequential replacement of both alleles of a gene by a selection marker. Targeted gene deletion is often performed in auxotrophic host strains, which are rendered prototrophic after the insertion of appropriate nutritional marker genes into the target locus. The SAT1-flipping strategy described in this chapter allows gene deletion in prototrophic C. albicans wild-type strains with the help of a recyclable dominant selection marker. The SAT1 flipper cassette used for this purpose consists of the caSAT1 marker, which confers resistance to the antibiotic nourseothricin, and the caFLP gene, which encodes the site-specific recombinase FLP. The addition of flanking sequences of the target gene allows specific genomic insertion of the SAT1 flipper cassette by homologous recombination and selection of nourseothricin-resistant transformants. Expression of the FLP recombinase results in subsequent excision of the cassette, which is bordered by direct repeats of the FLP recognition sequence FRT, from the genome. The homozygous mutants obtained after two rounds of insertion and recycling of the SAT1 flipper cassette differ from the wild-type parental strain only by the absence of the target gene and can be used for the inactivation of additional genes and the generation of complemented strains using the same strategy.