When HSFs bring the heat—mapping the transcriptional circuitries of HSF-type regulators in Candida albicans

Abstract

Heat shock factor (HSF)-type regulators are stress-responsive transcription factors widely distributed among eukaryotes, including fungi. They carry a four-stranded winged helix-turn-helix DNA-binding domain considered as the signature domain for HSFs. The genome of the opportunistic yeast Candida albicans encodes four HSF members, namely, Sfl1, Sfl2, Skn7, and the essential regulator, Hsf1. C. albicans HSFs do not only respond to heat shock and/or temperature variation but also to CO 2 levels, oxidative stress, and quorum sensing, acting this way as central decision makers. In this minireview, I follow on the heels of my mSphere of Influence commentary (2020) to provide an overview of the repertoire of HSF regulators in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and C. albicans and describe how their genetic perturbation in C. albicans , coupled with genome-wide expression and location analyses, allow to map their transcriptional circuitry. I highlight how they can regulate, in common, a crucial developmental program: filamentous growth.