Pus1a and Pus1b have different localization patterns in C. albicans during cellular stress

Candida albicans is one of the top fungal killers, with a mortality rate of 40%. This pathogen has become increasingly hard to cure due to the emergence of resistant strains and limited antifungal treatment options. C. albicans is a diploid organism with natural heterozygosity in its genome, which increases its fitness. One protein involved in cellular fitness is pseudouridine synthase 1 (Pus1), which changes uridine into pseudouridine, on several sites on tRNA. Pus1 is localized in the nucleus in S. cerevisiae, but some Pus enzymes relocalize into the cytoplasm during heat stress. I hypothesize under stress conditions C. albicans Pus1a and Pus1b localization changes during stress and distinct patterns will be observed for each protein. Using GFP linked to either Pus1a or Pus1b, I show that the localization of Pus1a and Pus1b changes during stress. Interestingly, the relocalization is different between the alleles and is dependent upon the type of stress. For instance, Pus1b relocalizes into the cytoplasm, while Pus1a remains unchanged during hydrogen peroxide stress. Together, these results suggest Pus1a and Pus1b could have distinct roles in improving cellular fitness of C. albicans during stress.