Transcription profiling of Candida albicans cells undergoing the yeast-to-hyphal transition.
The ability of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to switch from a yeast to a hyphal morphology in response to external signals is implicated in its pathogenicity. We used glass DNA microarrays to investigate the transcription profiles of 6333 predicted ORFs in cells undergoing this transition and their responses to changes in temperature and culture medium. We have identified several genes whose transcriptional profiles are similar to those of known virulence factors that are modulated by the switch to hyphal growth caused by addition of serum and a 37 degrees C growth temperature. Time course analysis of this transition identified transcripts that are induced before germ tube initiation and shut off later in the developmental process. A strain deleted for the Efg1p and Cph1p transcription factors is defective in hyphae formation, and its response to serum and increased temperature is almost identical to the response of a wild-type strain grown at 37 degrees C in the absence of serum. Thus Efg1p and Cph1p are needed for the activation of the transcriptional program that is induced by the presence of serum.
Nantel
André
A
Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4P 2R2. andre.nantel@bri.nrc.ca
Dignard
Daniel
D
Bachewich
Catherine
C
Harcus
Doreen
D
Marcil
Anne
A
Bouin
Anne-Pascale
AP
Sensen
Christoph W
CW
Hogues
Hervé
H
van het Hoog
Marco
M
Gordon
Paul
P
Rigby
Tracey
T
Benoit
François
F
Tessier
Daniel C
DC
Thomas
David Y
DY
Whiteway
Malcolm
M
D002176:Candida albicans / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010641:Phenotype; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D003470:Culture Media; D014157:Transcription Factors