Homeodomain protein Sxi1α independently controls cell-cell fusion and gene expression during sexual reproduction in Cryptococcus deneoformans

Jun Huang; Anna E. Lehmann; Patricia P. Peterson; Ziyan Xu; Liping Xiong; Sheng Sun; Joseph Heitman

doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1012084

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Homeodomain protein Sxi1α independently controls cell-cell fusion and gene expression during sexual reproduction in Cryptococcus deneoformans

Jun Huang,

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4071-0926

⨯
Anna E. Lehmann,

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8544-9292

⨯
Patricia P. Peterson,

Roles Investigation, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0630-1045

⨯
Ziyan Xu,

Roles Investigation

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Liping Xiong,

Roles Investigation

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6420-0976

⨯
Sheng Sun,

Roles Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Joseph Heitman

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: heitm001@duke.edu

Affiliation Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6369-5995

⨯

Homeodomain protein Sxi1α independently controls cell-cell fusion and gene expression during sexual reproduction in Cryptococcus deneoformans

Jun Huang,
Anna E. Lehmann,
Patricia P. Peterson,
Ziyan Xu,
Liping Xiong,
Sheng Sun,
Joseph Heitman

Published: March 12, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1012084
See the preprint

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Cell fusion
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Saccharomyces cerevisiae
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Gene expression
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Sexual reproduction
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Transcription factors
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Gene regulation
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Transcriptional control
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