Multiple drug resistance in Candida albicans

By functional complementation of a PDR 5 (pleiotropic drug resistance) null mutant of S. cerevisiae, we have recently cloned and sequenced a multidrug resistance gene CDR 1 (Candida Drug Resistance). Transformation by CDR 1 of a PDR 5 disrupted host hypersensitive to cycloheximide and chloramphenicol resulted in resistance to these as well as other unrelated drugs. The nucleotide sequence of CDR I revealed that, like PDR 5, it encodes a putative membrane pump belonging to the ABC superfamily. CDR 1 encodes a protein of 169.9 kDa whose predicted structural organisation is characterised by two homologous halves, each comprising a hydrophobic region, with a set of six transmembrane stretches, preceded by a hydrophilic binding fold. We now have evidence to suggest that there are several PDR homologues present in C. albicans which display multidrug resistance and a collateral sensitivity pattern different from PDR 5 and CDR 1. The functions of such genes and their products in the overall physiology of C. albicans is not yet established.