Figure 5.—
The role of Cas3 and Can2 in CO2-mediated capsule induction. Capsule synthesis levels of the following C. neoformans strains were quantitatively measured by using hematocrit as described in materials and methods. The Y-axis indicates the relative capsule volume, which is percent ratio of length of packed cell volume phase vs. length of total loading volume phase. (A) C. neoformans strains [the wild-type H99 and cac1Δ (YSB42) and cas3Δ (YSB667 and YSB668) mutant strains] were grown in DME medium under either ambient air (−CO2) or high CO2 (5%, +CO2) conditions for capsule induction. (B) C. neoformans strains [the wild-type H99 and cac1Δ (YSB42) and PCTR4∷CAN2 (YSB734) mutant strains] were grown in DME medium containing 200 μm BCS under either ambient air (−CO2) or high CO2 (5%, +CO2) conditions for capsule induction. Three independent experiments with triplicates were performed. Statistical analysis was performed by using Bonferroni multiple comparison test. *P < 0.001 and NS, not significant (P > 0.05).