Spt3 plays opposite roles in filamentous growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans and is required for C. albicans virulence.

Spt3 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for the normal transcription of many genes in vivo. Past studies have shown that Spt3 is required for both mating and sporulation, two events that initiate when cells are at G(1)/START. We now show that Spt3 is needed for two other events that begin at G(1)/START, diploid filamentous growth and haploid invasive growth. In addition, Spt3 is required for normal expression of FLO11, a gene required for filamentous growth, although this defect is not the sole cause of the spt3Delta/spt3Delta filamentous growth defect. To extend our studies of Spt3's role in filamentous growth to the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans, we have identified the C. albicans SPT3 gene and have studied its role in C. albicans filamentous growth and virulence. Surprisingly, C. albicans spt3Delta/spt3Delta mutants are hyperfilamentous, the opposite phenotype observed for S. cerevisiae spt3Delta/spt3Delta mutants. Furthermore, C. albicans spt3Delta/spt3Delta mutants are avirulent in mice. These experiments demonstrate that Spt3 plays important but opposite roles in filamentous growth in S. cerevisiae and C. albicans.