Regulation of protein function by reversible post-translational modification, SUMOylation, is widely conserved in the eukaryotic kingdom. SUMOylation is essential for cell growth, division, and adaptation to stress in most organisms, including fungi. As these are key factors in determination of fungal virulence, in this study, we have investigated the importance of SUMOylation in the human pathogen, Candida glabrata. We identified the enzymes involved in small ubiquitin-like modifier conjugation and show that there is strong conservation between Saccharomyces cerevisiae and C. glabrata. We demonstrate that SUMOylation is an essential process and that adaptation to stress involves changes in global SUMOylation in C. glabrata. Importantly, loss of the deSUMOylating enzyme CgUlp2 leads to highly reduced small ubiquitin-like modifier protein levels, and impaired growth, sensitivity to multiple stress conditions, reduced adherence to epithelial cells, and poor colonization of specific tissues in mice. Our study thus demonstrates a key role for protein SUMOylation in the life cycle and pathobiology of C. glabrata. SUMOylation, the covalent reversible conjugation of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) 5 polypeptide to lysine residues, often within the canonical consensus motif âżKXE (âż and X represent a hydrophobic amino acid and any amino acid, respectively) in target proteins, is a post-translational modification that plays a key regulatory role in several cellular processes, including transcription, protein homeostasis, stress response, and development (1, 2). The process of SUMO attachment consists of the following four steps: (i) processing of the Ïł10-kDa precursor SUMO peptide by SUMO-specific proteases to reveal a C-terminal diglycine motif in the mature SUMO; (ii) ATP-dependent activation of the processed SUMO through the thioester bond formation between the C-terminal glycine of SUMO and the catalytic cysteine of the E1-activating enzyme; (iii) transfer of the SUMO polypeptide from the E1 enzyme to a conserved cysteine in the E2-conjugating enzyme via a thioester linkage; and (iv) E3 ligase-mediated formation of an isopeptide bond between the C-terminal glycine of the SUMO and the â-amino group of the lysine residue within the conserved sequence on the target protein (2, 3). Besides the precursor SUMO maturation, the SUMO-specific peptidases are also able to hydrolyze the isopeptide bond between SUMO and SUMO-modified proteins thereby rendering the SUMOylation process reversible.The SUMO polypeptide is ubiquitously present in all eukaryotes and highly conserved from yeast to mammals (1-3). SUMO modification of protein substrates has diverse functional consequences and range from increased protein stability to altered subcellular localization (1-3). Furthermore, deregulated expression of SUMOylation components has been implicated in several human diseases, including neurodegeneration, heart failure, cancer, diabetes, and infections by bacterial and viral pathogens (4, 5).In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae,...