title: Candida albicans septin mutants are defective for invasive growth and virulence.
abstract: Hyphal growth of Candida albicans is implicated as an important virulence factor for this opportunistic human pathogen. Septin proteins, a family of cytoskeletal elements that regulate membrane events and are important for proper morphogenesis of C. albicans, were examined for their role in tissue invasion and virulence in the mouse model of systemic infection. In vitro, septin mutants are only mildly defective for hyphal growth in liquid culture but display pronounced defects for invasive growth into agar. In vivo, the septin mutants were found to exhibit attenuated virulence. However, mice infected with the mutants displayed high fungal burdens in their kidneys without obvious symptoms of disease. Histological examination of infected kidneys revealed defects in organ invasion for the cdc10 Delta and cdc11 Delta deletion mutants, which displayed both reduced tissue penetration and noninvasive fungal masses. Thus, the septin proteins are necessary for invasive growth, which appears to be more important to the successful pathogenesis of C. albicans than hyphal growth alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5222, USA.
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Warenda
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kauffman
authors.forename: Taylor P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Sherrill
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Konopka
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D000818:Animals; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D025301:Hyphae / Q000254:growth & development; D007668:Kidney / Q000382:microbiology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009154:Mutation; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; D058112:Septins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: C099502:CDC11 protein, S cerevisiae; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C115656:SHS1 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D029702:Schizosaccharomyces pombe Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C061178:cdc10 protein, S pombe; D000362:Agar; C512892:CDC10 protein, S cerevisiae; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; C512895:Sept7 protein, mouse; D058112:Septins