Candida albicans expresses an unusual cytoplasmic manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (SOD3 gene product) upon the entry and during the stationary phase

We report here that in addition to a cytoplasmic copper-zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (SOD) and a mitochondrial manganese-containing SOD, Candida albicans expresses a third SOD gene (SOD3). The deduced amino acid sequence contains all of the motifs found in previously characterized manganese-containing SODs, except the presence of a mitochondrial transit peptide. Recombinant Sod3p expressed and purified from Escherichia coli is a homotetramer with a subunit mass of 25.4 kDa. Mass absorption spectrometry detected the presence of both iron and manganese in purified Sod3p but, as determined by metal replacement experiments, the enzyme displays activity only when bound to manganese. Overexpression of SOD3 was shown to rescue the hypersensitivity to redox cycling agents of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant lacking the cytoplasmic copper-zinc-containing SOD. Northern blot analyses showed that the transcription of SOD3 is induced neither by the transition from the yeast to the mycelial form of C. albicans nor by drug-induced oxidative stress. In continuous cultures, the expression of SOD3 was strongly stimulated upon the entity and during the stationary phase, concomitantly with the repression of SOD1. We conclude that Sod3p is an atypical cytosolic manganese-containing superoxide dismutase that is involved in the protection of C. albicans against reactive oxygen species during the stationary phase.