Multiple roles of Ypd1 phosphotransfer protein in viability, stress response, and virulence factor regulation in Cryptococcus neoformans.

Ypd1 is a key phosphorelay protein that controls eukaryotic two-component systems, but its function in Cryptococcus neoformans is not known. Here, we report that Ypd1 is required for the viability of C. neoformans via the Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway but plays multiple cellular roles in both a Hog1-dependent and -independent manner.