Project description:Candida albicans is the most important fungal pathogen of humans, causing severe infections especially in nosocomial and immunocompromised settings. However, it is also the most prevalent fungus of the normal human microbiome, where it shares its habitat with hundreds of trillions of other microbial cells. Despite weak organic acids (WOAs) being among the most abundant metabolites produced by bacterial microbiota, little is known about their effect on C. albicans. Here we employed a sequencing-based profiling strategy to systematically investigate the transcriptional stress response of C. albicans to lactic, acetic, propionic and butyric acid at several time points after treatment. Our data reveal a complex transcriptional response, with individual WOAs triggering unique gene expression profiles and with important differences between acute and chronic exposure. In spite of all these dissimilarities, we found significant overlaps between the gene expression changes induced by each WOA, which lead us to uncover a core transcriptional signature that was unrelated to the general response to low pH. Genes commonly up-regulated by WOAs were enriched in several iron transporters, which was associated with an overall decrease in intracellular iron concentrations. Moreover, chronic exposure to any WOA lead to down-regulation of RNA synthesis and ribosome biogenesis genes, which resulted in significant reduction of total RNA levels in general and of ribosomal RNA in particular. In conclusion, this study suggests that GI microbiota might directly influence C. albicans physiology via production of WOAs, with possible implications of how this fungus interacts with its hosts in both health and disease. Transcriptional profiling of wild-type Candida albicans strain SC5314 under 6 differents condition (2 controls, 4 weak acids) at 4 time points by cDNA deep-sequencing, with 4 biological replicates, on the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. 96 total samples were sequenced (6 x 4 x 4).

Project description:The fungus Candida albicans is part of the human microbiome and mainly colonises the GI tract of healthy individuals. However, when the balance in the GI tract is disturbed, the fungus can switch from a commensal to a virulent lifestyle and can turn into a life-threatening pathogen. Life in the host is characterised by a constant struggle for nutrients, essential trace elements such as iron, copper and zinc are particularly important. To protect itself from pathogens, the human host has developed a strategy to limit the availability of trace elements, this strategy is also described as nutritional immunity. C. albicans has developed a whole range of counter-strategies to obtain sufficient trace elements. In this manuscript, we have characterised the transcription factor Orf19.217, which acts at the interface between trace element scavenging and acquisition and is therefore particularly important in adaptation to life in the host. According to its identified function, we named the transcription factor Irf1, Iron-dependent Regulator of Filamentation. The transcription factor was previously identified in a systematic screen of genes whose overexpression contributes to morphological changes in C. albicans. We have comprehensively investigated the function of Irf1 using state-of-the-art functional genomics approaches, including ChIP-seq, transcriptomics and bioinformatics analyses. Analysis of the Irf1 gene-regulatory network indicates that the transcription factor is involved in the regulation of genes important for iron uptake. Using phenotypic analysis, we confirmed that Irf1 acts in a pathway parallel to known iron uptake regulators and is also required for hyphal formation induced by iron deficiency, a process that allows the fungus to access more viable body niches. Through epistasis experiments, we were also able to identify downstream effectors of Irf1 that are involved in this process. Our study provides new insights into how C. albicans adapts to iron deficiency and establish a direct functional link between hyphal formation and iron uptake.

Project description:Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an inflammatory genetic disease characterized by elevated systemic reactivity against commensal gut microbiota and high levels of gut Candida albicans. The current study investigated the effects of Lactobacillus acidophillus INMIA 9602 Er 317/402 strain (probiotic “Narine”) on the relative abundance of gut enteric bacteria, lactobacilli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enteroccocus faecalis in Candida albicans-carrier and non-carrier FMF patients in remission with the main MEFV mutation patterns M694V/V726A- the prevalent MEFV gene mutation within FMF patients in the Armenian cohort. Our data revealed that M694V/V726A mutations in PURIN inflammasome leading to FMF disease brought to gender specific differences in microbial community structure in FMF patients. Possibly, long-term colchicine use suppresses the PURIN inflammasome/inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent IL-1β release influencing on overgrowth of C. albicans in gut microbiota of FMF patients. The comparison of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) of enteric bacteria in C. albicans-carrier and non-carrier female patients revealed the statistically significant increase in OTUs of enterobacteria in C. albicans-carriers. In contrast to this, there were no differences in abundance of Enteroccocus faecalis between female FMF C. albicans-carriers compared with non-carriers, while male FMF C. albicans-carriers have increased abundance of E. faecalis in their gut microbiota compared with that of male patients with none carriers. The gut microbiota of FMF patients (both male and female) with C. albicans below baseline level contains high abundance of lactobacilli compared with C. albicans-carriers. The adoption of Lactobacillus acidophilus INMIA 9602 Er 317/402 leads to changes in gut microbiota composition of FMF patients. It reduces, in particularly, the abundance of enterobacteria in females, and Enteroccocus faecalis in men parallel with reducing the numbers of yeast in gut microbiota of FMF patients. We hypothesize that colchicine treatment changes the already-altered gut microbiota of FMF patients, thereby affecting the regulation of immune system by inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome. Colchicine could lead to overgrowth of C. albicans in gut microbiota of FMF patients, whereas the Lactobacillus acidophilus INMIA 9602 Er 317/402 works on activation of inflammasome by new changes in gut microbiota of patients.

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The Transcriptional Stress Response of Candida albicans to Weak Organic Acids

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