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Functional Genomic Analysis of Candida albicans Adherence Reveals a Key Role for the Arp2/3 Complex in Cell Wall Remodelling and Biofilm Formation.

ABSTRACT: Fungal biofilms are complex, structured communities that can form on surfaces such as catheters and other indwelling medical devices. Biofilms are of particular concern with Candida albicans, one of the leading opportunistic fungal pathogens of humans. C. albicans biofilms include yeast and filamentous cells that are surrounded by an extracellular matrix, and they are intrinsically resistant to antifungal drugs such that resolving biofilm infections often requires surgery to remove the contaminated device. C. albicans biofilms form through a regulated process of adhesion to surfaces, filamentation, maturation, and ultimately dispersion. To uncover new strategies to block the initial stages of biofilm formation, we utilized a functional genomic approach to identify genes that modulate C. albicans adherence. We screened a library of 1,481 double barcoded doxycycline-repressible conditional gene expression strains covering ~25% of the C. albicans genome. We identified five genes for which transcriptional repression impaired adherence, including: ARC18, PMT1, MNN9, SPT7, and orf19.831. The most severe adherence defect was observed upon transcriptional repression of ARC18, which encodes a member of the Arp2/3 complex that is involved in regulation of the actin cytoskeleton and endocytosis. Depletion of components of the Arp2/3 complex not only impaired adherence, but also caused reduced biofilm formation, increased cell surface hydrophobicity, and increased exposure of cell wall chitin and ?-glucans. Reduced function of the Arp2/3 complex led to impaired cell wall integrity and activation of Rho1-mediated cell wall stress responses, thereby causing cell wall remodelling and reduced adherence. Thus, we identify important functional relationships between cell wall stress responses and a novel mechanism that controls adherence and biofilm formation, thereby illuminating novel strategies to cripple a leading fungal pathogen of humans.

SUBMITTER: Lee JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5147769 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Functional Genomic Analysis of Candida albicans Adherence Reveals a Key Role for the Arp2/3 Complex in Cell Wall Remodelling and Biofilm Formation.

Lee Jason A JA Robbins Nicole N Xie Jinglin L JL Ketela Troy T Cowen Leah E LE

PLoS genetics 20161121 11

Fungal biofilms are complex, structured communities that can form on surfaces such as catheters and other indwelling medical devices. Biofilms are of particular concern with Candida albicans, one of the leading opportunistic fungal pathogens of humans. C. albicans biofilms include yeast and filamentous cells that are surrounded by an extracellular matrix, and they are intrinsically resistant to antifungal drugs such that resolving biofilm infections often requires surgery to remove the contamina ...[more]

PMID: 27870871

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Project description:Polymicrobial biofilms play important roles in oral and systemic infections. The oral plaque bacterium Streptococcus gordonii is known to attach to the hyphal cell wall of the fungus Candida albicans to form corn-cob like structures in biofilms. However, the role of C. albicans in formation of polymicrobial biofilms is not completely understood. The objective of this study was to determine the role of C. albicans transcription factors in regulation of polymicrobial biofilms and antibiotic tolerance of S. gordonii. The proteins secreted by C. albicans and S. gordonii in mixed planktonic cultures were determined using mass spectrometry. Antibiotic tolerance of S. gordonii to ampicillin and erythromycin was determined in mixed cultures and mixed biofilms with C. albicans. Additionally, biofilm formation of S. gordonii with C. albicans knock-out mutants of 45 transcription factors that affect cell wall integrity, filamentous growth and biofilm formation was determined. Furthermore, these mutants were also screened for antibiotic tolerance in mixed biofilms with S. gordonii. Analysis of secreted proteomes resulted in the identification of proteins being secreted exclusively in mixed cultures. Antibiotic testing showed that S. gordonii had significantly increased survival in mixed planktonic cultures with antibiotics as compared to single cultures. C. albicans mutants of transcription factors Sfl2, Brg1, Leu3, Cas5, Cta4, Tec1, Tup1, Rim101 and Efg1 were significantly affected in mixed biofilm formation. Also mixed biofilms of S. gordonii with mutants of C. albicans transcription factors, Tec1 and Sfl2, had significantly reduced antibiotic tolerance as compared to control cultures. Our data indicates that C. albicans may have an important role in mixed biofilm formation as well as antibiotic tolerance of S. gordonii in polymicrobial biofilms. C. albicans may play a facilitating role than being just an innocent bystander in oral biofilms and infections.

Project description:UnlabelledBiofilm formation by Candida albicans on medically implanted devices poses a significant clinical challenge. Here, we compared biofilm-associated gene expression in two clinical C. albicans isolates, SC5314 and WO-1, to identify shared gene regulatory responses that may be functionally relevant. Among the 62 genes most highly expressed in biofilms relative to planktonic (suspension-grown) cells, we were able to recover insertion mutations in 25 genes. Twenty mutants had altered biofilm-related properties, including cell substrate adherence, cell-cell signaling, and azole susceptibility. We focused on one of the most highly upregulated genes in our biofilm proles, RHR2, which specifies the glycerol biosynthetic enzyme glycerol-3-phosphatase. Glycerol is 5-fold-more abundant in biofilm cells than in planktonic cells, and an rhr2Δ/Δ strain accumulates 2-fold-less biofilm glycerol than does the wild type. Under in vitro conditions, the rhr2Δ/Δ mutant has reduced biofilm biomass and reduced adherence to silicone. The rhr2Δ/Δ mutant is also severely defective in biofilm formation in vivo in a rat catheter infection model. Expression profiling indicates that the rhr2Δ/Δ mutant has reduced expression of cell surface adhesin genes ALS1, ALS3, and HWP1, as well as many other biofilm-upregulated genes. Reduced adhesin expression may be the cause of the rhr2Δ/Δ mutant biofilm defect, because overexpression of ALS1, ALS3, or HWP1 restores biofilm formation ability to the mutant in vitro and in vivo. Our findings indicate that internal glycerol has a regulatory role in biofilm gene expression and that adhesin genes are among the main functional Rhr2-regulated genes.ImportanceCandida albicans is a major fungal pathogen, and infection can arise from the therapeutically intractable biofilms that it forms on medically implanted devices. It stands to reason that genes whose expression is induced during biofilm growth will function in the process, and our analysis of 25 such genes confirms that expectation. One gene is involved in synthesis of glycerol, a small metabolite that we find is abundant in biofilm cells. The impact of glycerol on biofilm formation is regulatory, not solely metabolic, because it is required for expression of numerous biofilm-associated genes. Restoration of expression of three of these genes that specify cell surface adhesins enables the glycerol-synthetic mutant to create a biofilm. Our findings emphasize the significance of metabolic pathways as therapeutic targets, because their disruption can have both physiological and regulatory consequences.

Dataset Information

Functional Genomic Analysis of Candida albicans Adherence Reveals a Key Role for the Arp2/3 Complex in Cell Wall Remodelling and Biofilm Formation.

Publications

Functional Genomic Analysis of Candida albicans Adherence Reveals a Key Role for the Arp2/3 Complex in Cell Wall Remodelling and Biofilm Formation.

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