Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Candida albicans cells grown under planktonic and biofilm-inducing conditions, comparing SN76 and sfl1Δ/sfl1Δ strains. Goal was to study the effect of SFL1 deletion on the transcriptomic profile of C. albicans planktonic and biofilm cells under acidic conditions, in order to reveal the function of the Sfl1 transcription factor in C. albicans biofilm development.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Candida albicans cells comparing control untreated C. albicans cells with sulfite-treated C. albicans cells. Sulfite is a toxic molecule that C. albicans encounters in its human host. Both wild type and ∆zcf2 mutant cells were used. The goal was to determine the effects of sulfite on C. albicans gene expression, and to determine which of the genes areZcf2-depedent.
Project description:The experiment was designed to study the transcriptional profiling of Candida albicans wild-type CAI-4 strains and corresponding Histatin 5 treated strains. Since Histatin 5 will kill Candida albicans, the focus will be on how many and which genes are significantly affected with the treatment of Histatin 5. Currently, we only conducted the microarray experiments at one concentration of Histatin 5 and one time point of treatment. Keywords: cell type comparison
Project description:Candidiasis affects a wide variety of immunocompromised individuals, including HIV/AIDS patients and cancer patients on chemotherapy. Candida albicans, a major human fungal pathogen, accounts for about 50% of all cases, while the remainder are caused by the less pathogenic non-albicans Candida species (NACS). These species are believed to be less pathogenic, in part, because they do not filament as readily or robustly as C. albicans, although definitive evidence is lacking. To address this question, we used strains for two NACS, Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis, that are genetically engineered to constitutively express the key transcriptional regulator UME6 and drive strong filamentation both in vitro and during infection in vivo. Unexpectedly, both strains showed a dramatic reduction in organ fungal burden and clearance of infection in response to UME6 expression. Consistent with these findings, we observed that a C. tropicalis hyperfilamentous mutant was significantly reduced and a filamentation-defective mutant was slightly increased for organ fungal burden. Comprehensive immune profiling did not reveal any significant changes in the host immune response to UME6 expression in the NACS. Interestingly, however, whole-genome transcriptional profiling indicated that while genes important for filamentation were induced by UME6 expression in C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis, other genes involved in a variety of processes important for pathogenesis were strongly down-regulated. Our findings are significant because they suggest fundamental evolutionary differences in the relationship between morphology and pathogenicity among Candida species and that NACS do not necessarily possess the same virulence properties as C. albicans.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Candida albicans SC5314 comparing C. albicans grown in RPMI1640 or in RPMI1640 with 100ug/ml AAT. Goal was to determine the effects of AAT on global C. albicans gene expression.