The original plasmid p1164 containing the
C. albicans URA3 gene was kindly provided by Stewart Scherer of Acacia Biosciences, Richmond, Calif. This plasmid contained a 4.2-kb DNA insert, which included at least 1 kb of DNA flanking the
URA3 gene. The DNA fragment was subcloned at the
EcoRV site of pGEM-5Z (Promega Corporation), and the resulting plasmid clone was designated p161. In order to construct a
URA3 deletion cassette, p161 plasmid DNA was digested with
EcoRV and
XbaI to delete a central 2.0-kb fragment of the
URA3 gene. Following digestion, the plasmid was end-repaired with T4 DNA polymerase and was treated with shrimp alkaline phosphatase. The deleted
URA3 gene fragment of the plasmid was then replaced by a 2.4-kb
EcoRV fragment of the
C. albicans ADE2 gene. The
ADE2 DNA was derived from pMC2 (
16) as an
EcoRV fragment and was subcloned into pGEM-5Z to derive p
ADE2-5Z. The plasmid containing the
URA3 deletion cassette
URA3::
ADE2 was designated p161Δ
URA3:
ADE2. Homozygous deletion of the
URA3 gene was performed in strain Red 3/6, an
ade2 derivative of WO-1 (
39). Approximately 50 μg of
ApaI/
SacI-digested p161Δ
URA3:
ADE2 DNA was used to transform Red 3/6 by the lithium acetate method (
27).
ADE2 prototrophic clones were chosen based on their capacity to grow on minimal medium containing no adenine sulfate.
URA3 heterozygotes were identified by Southern analysis of genomic DNA probed successively with a 2.4-kb
EcoRV fragment of the
ADE2 gene (
16) and the 0.34-kb
XbaI-
NsiI fragment of the
URA3 gene from the p161 plasmid. Selected heterozygote(s) were subjected to a second round of transformation in order to increase the chances of obtaining homozygotes by integrative gene conversion rather than mitotic recombination. However, because the cassettes used in the first and second transformations were identical, we could not discriminate between the two mechanisms. To generate
ura3−homozygotes, heterozygous clones were grown to mid-log phase, then were inoculated into fresh yeast extract-peptone-dextrose broth and allowed to grow for one generation. Approximately 4 × 10
7cells were transformed with 50 μg of the
URA3 deletion cassette DNA by the spheroplast method (
38). Following transformation, 10
7 spheroplasts were spread on yeast extract-peptone-dextrose plates containing 1 M sorbitol for 16 h at 30°C. Cells were collected, and approximately 10
7cells were spread on minimal medium containing 1 mg of 5-fluororotic acid (FOA) per ml and 0.1 mM uridine. These plates were incubated for 4 to 5 days at 30°C for the appearance of FOA-resistant colonies. Thirty independent colonies were tested by Southern analysis for homozygosity of the
URA3 locus by using the
ADE2and
URA3 probes employed in the analysis of heterozygotes. Of 24 clones exhibiting identical patterns and absence of the
URA3 region spanning the
XbaI-
EcoRV restriction sites (
9), two clones, TS3.3 and TS3.5, which underwent the white-opaque transition at normal frequencies and were incapable of growing in medium lacking uridine were selected.