Metabolic regulation in model ascomycetes – adjusting similar genomes to different lifestyles

• S. cerevisiae and C. albicans have similar genomic constitutions, but very dissimilar lifestyles.
• These yeasts regulate their central metabolism by a variety of mechanisms – this control allows their similar genomes to generate different lifestyles.
• This regulatory rewiring was initially identified as changes in specific transcription factors; we now see rewiring in post-translational controls as well as changes to the various general transcriptional control complexes.

The related yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans have similar genomes but very different lifestyles. These fungi have modified transcriptional and post-translational regulatory processes to adapt their similar genomes to the distinct biological requirements of the two yeasts. We review recent findings comparing the differences between these species, highlighting how they have achieved specialized metabolic capacities tailored to their lifestyles despite sharing similar genomes. Studying this transcriptional and post-transcriptional rewiring may improve our ability to interpret phenotype from genotype.