Scholars@Duke
Xiangdong Gao

Xiangdong Gao

Visiting Professor of Genetics at Duke Kunshan University
DKU Faculty

Selected Publications

Roles of the transcriptional regulators Fts1, YlNrg1, YlTup1, and YlSsn6 in the repression of the yeast-to-filament transition in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article Molecular microbiology · January 2023 In dimorphic fungi, the yeast-to-filament transition critical for cell survival under nutrient starvation is controlled by both activators and repressors. However, very few filamentation repressors are known. Here we report that, in the dimorphic yeast Yar ... Full text Cite

The Zinc Finger Transcription Factor Fts2 Represses the Yeast-to-Filament Transition in the Dimorphic Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article mSphere · December 2022 The yeast-to-filament transition is an important cellular response to environmental stimulations in dimorphic fungi. In addition to activators, there are repressors in the cells to prevent filament formation, which is important to keep the cells in the yea ... Full text Cite

The pH-Responsive Transcription Factors YlRim101 and Mhy1 Regulate Alkaline pH-Induced Filamentation in the Dimorphic Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article mSphere · May 2021 Environmental pH influences cell growth and differentiation. In the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, neutral-alkaline pH strongly induces the yeast-to-filament transition. However, the regulatory mechanism that governs alkaline pH-induced filame ... Full text Cite

Roles of the PH, coiled-coil and SAM domains of the yeast polarity protein Boi2 in polarity-site localization and function in polarized growth.

Journal Article Current genetics · December 2020 Boi1 and Boi2 are paralogous proteins essential for bud formation in budding yeast. So far, the domains that target Boi1/Boi2 to the polarity sites and function in bud formation are not well understood. Here, we report that a coiled-coil domain of Boi2 coo ... Full text Cite

The Sur7/PalI family transmembrane protein Tos7 (Yol019w) plays a role in secretion in budding yeast.

Journal Article Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B · November 2020 Tos7 (Yol019w) is a Sur7/PalI family transmembrane protein in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Since the deletion of TOS7 did not affect growth or cell morphology, the cellular roles of Tos7 have not been established previously. Here, we show th ... Full text Cite

Characterization of the promoter, downstream target genes and recognition DNA sequence of Mhy1, a key filamentation-promoting transcription factor in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article Current genetics · February 2020 Msn2/Msn4-family zinc finger transcription factors play important roles in stress response in yeast. However, some members of this family show significant functional divergence in different species. Here, we report that in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipo ... Full text Cite

Small-Scale Soil Microbial Community Heterogeneity Linked to Landform Historical Events on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica.

Journal Article Frontiers in microbiology · January 2018 Although research on microbial biogeography has made great progress in the past decade, distributions of terrestrial microbial communities in extreme environments such as Antarctica are not well understood. In addition, knowledge of whether and how histori ... Full text Cite

The TORC1-Sch9-Rim15 signaling pathway represses yeast-to-hypha transition in response to glycerol availability in the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article Molecular microbiology · May 2017 The yeast-to-hypha dimorphic transition is important for survival under nutrient starvation in fungi. The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica grows in the oval-shaped yeast form in glycerol media whereas it adopts a filamentous form in glucose media. It i ... Full text Cite

Roles of an N-terminal coiled-coil-containing domain in the localization and function of Bem3, a Rho GTPase-activating protein in budding yeast.

Journal Article Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B · February 2017 GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) play critical roles in the spatial and temporal control of small GTPases. The budding yeast Bem3 is a GAP for Cdc42, a Rho GTPase crucial for actin and septin organization. Bem3 localizes to the sites of polarized growth. ... Full text Cite

Kin2, the Budding Yeast Ortholog of Animal MARK/PAR-1 Kinases, Localizes to the Sites of Polarized Growth and May Regulate Septin Organization and the Cell Wall.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2016 MARK/PAR-1 protein kinases play important roles in cell polarization in animals. Kin1 and Kin2 are a pair of MARK/PAR-1 orthologs in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They participate in the regulation of secretion and ER stress response. However ... Full text Cite

The anillin-related region of Bud4 is the major functional determinant for Bud4's function in septin organization during bud growth and axial bud site selection in budding yeast.

Journal Article Eukaryotic cell · March 2015 The anillin-related protein Bud4 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for axial bud site selection by linking the axial landmark to the septins, which localize at the mother bud neck. Recent studies indicate that Bud4 plays a role in septin organization ... Full text Cite

The GTPase-activating protein Rga1 interacts with Rho3 GTPase and may regulate its function in polarized growth in budding yeast.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2015 In budding yeast, Rga1 negatively regulates the Rho GTPase Cdc42 by acting as a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for Cdc42. To gain insight into the function and regulation of Rga1, we overexpressed Rga1 and an N-terminally truncated Rga1-C538 (a.a. 538-100 ... Full text Cite

A role for the rap GTPase YlRsr1 in cellular morphogenesis and the involvement of YlRsr1 and the ras GTPase YlRas2 in bud site selection in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article Eukaryotic cell · May 2014 Yarrowia lipolytica is a dimorphic yeast species that can grow in the ovoid yeast form or in the elongated pseudohyphal or hyphal form depending on the growth conditions. Here, we show that the Rap GTPase Rsr1 of Y. lipolytica (YlRsr1) plays an important r ... Full text Cite

Roles of the three Ras proteins in the regulation of dimorphic transition in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article FEMS yeast research · May 2014 Ras proteins in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are essential for growth and dimorphic transition. The dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is distantly related to S. cerevisiae. Its genome encodes three Ras proteins. Here, we show that the three ... Full text Cite

Control of polarized growth by the Rho family GTPase Rho4 in budding yeast: requirement of the N-terminal extension of Rho4 and regulation by the Rho GTPase-activating protein Bem2.

Journal Article Eukaryotic cell · February 2013 In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rho4 GTPase partially plays a redundant role with Rho3 in the control of polarized growth, as deletion of RHO4 and RHO3 together, but not RHO4 alone, caused lethality and a loss of cell polarity at 30°C. Here, ... Full text Cite

The TEA/ATTS transcription factor YlTec1p represses the yeast-to-hypha transition in the dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Journal Article FEMS yeast research · February 2013 Tec1p in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is important for dimorphic transition. In this study, we identified a homologue of Tec1p, YlTec1p, in the distantly related dimorphic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. YlTec1p contains an evolutionarily conserve ... Full text Cite

Msb1 interacts with Cdc42, Boi1, and Boi2 and may coordinate Cdc42 and Rho1 functions during early stage of bud development in budding yeast.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2013 Msb1 is not essential for growth in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae since msb1Δ cells do not display obvious phenotypes. Genetic studies suggest that Msb1 positively regulates Cdc42 function during bud development, since high-copy MSB1 suppresse ... Full text Cite

Widespread existence of cytosine methylation in yeast DNA measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Journal Article Analytical chemistry · August 2012 DNA methylation is one of the major epigenetic modifications and has been involved in a number of biological processes in mammalian cells. Yeast is widely used as a model organism for studying cell metabolism, cell cycle regulation, and signal transduction ... Full text Cite

Identification of an amphipathic helix important for the formation of ectopic septin spirals and axial budding in yeast axial landmark protein Bud3p.

Journal Article PloS one · March 2011 Correct positioning of polarity axis in response to internal or external cues is central to cellular morphogenesis and cell fate determination. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Bud3p plays a key role in the axial bud-site selection (axial bud ... Full text Cite

Adjacent positioning of cellular structures enabled by a Cdc42 GTPase-activating protein-mediated zone of inhibition.

Journal Article J Cell Biol · December 31, 2007 Cells of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are born carrying localized transmembrane landmark proteins that guide the subsequent establishment of a polarity axis and hence polarized growth to form a bud in the next cell cycle. In haploid cells, th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sequential and distinct roles of the cadherin domain-containing protein Axl2p in cell polarization in yeast cell cycle.

Journal Article Molecular biology of the cell · July 2007 Polarization of cell growth along a defined axis is essential for the generation of cell and tissue polarity. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Axl2p plays an essential role in polarity-axis determination, or more specifically, axial budding i ... Full text Cite

Regulation of cell polarity by interactions of Msb3 and Msb4 with Cdc42 and polarisome components.

Journal Article Molecular and cellular biology · October 2005 In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, polarized growth depends on interactions between the actin cytoskeleton and the secretory machinery. Here we show that the Rab GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) Msb3 and Msb4 interact directly with Spa2, a scaffold protein of t ... Full text Cite

Pxl1p, a paxillin-like protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, may coordinate Cdc42p and Rho1p functions during polarized growth.

Journal Article Molecular biology of the cell · September 2004 Rho-family GTPases Cdc42p and Rho1p play critical roles in the budding process of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, it is not clear how the functions of these GTPases are coordinated temporally and spatially during this process. Based on its abi ... Full text Cite

Deficiencies in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-membrane protein Gab1p perturb transfer of glycosylphosphatidylinositol to proteins and cause perinuclear ER-associated actin bar formation.

Journal Article Molecular biology of the cell · June 2004 The essential GAB1 gene, which encodes an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-membrane protein, was identified in a screen for mutants defective in cellular morphogenesis. A temperature-sensitive gab1 mutant accumulates complete glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) p ... Full text Cite

A role for exocytosis in the spatial regulation of actin organization.

Journal Article TheScientificWorldJournal · December 2003 The efficient organization of the actin cytoskeleton is important for many cellular functions. However, how the local actin organization is regulated in a cell is not well understood. By using yeast mutants defective in actin organization and secretion, we ... Full text Cite

The GAP activity of Msb3p and Msb4p for the Rab GTPase Sec4p is required for efficient exocytosis and actin organization.

Journal Article The Journal of cell biology · August 2003 Polarized growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is thought to occur by the transport of post-Golgi vesicles along actin cables to the daughter cell, and the subsequent fusion of the vesicles with the plasma membrane. Previously, we have shown that Msb3p and M ... Full text Cite

Studies on site-specific DNA excision and targeted DNA integration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Journal Article Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica · December 1, 1998 The FLP-FRT site-specific recombination system in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of two components: FLP recombinase and FRT site. The FLP gene of the yeast 2 μm circle was placed under control of GAL10 promoter. As a result of galactose induct ... Cite

Studies on Site-specific DNA Excision and Targeted DNA Integration in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Journal Article Sheng wu hua xue yu sheng wu wu li xue bao Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica · January 1998 The FLP-FRT site-specific recombination system in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of two components: FLP recombinase and FRT site. The FLP gene of the yeast 2 &mgr;m circle was placed under control of GAL10 promoter. As a result of galactose in ... Cite