title: A role of Candida albicans CDC4 in the negative regulation of biofilm formation.
abstract: The CDC4 gene is nonessential in Candida albicans and plays a role in suppressing filamentous growth, in contrast to its homologues, which are involved in the G1-S transition of the cell cycle. While characterizing the function of C. albicans CDC4 (CaCDC4), we found that the loss of CaCDC4 resulted in a reduction in cell flocculation, indicating a possible role for CaCDC4 in biofilm formation. To elucidate the role of CaCDC4 in biofilm formation, Cacdc4 null mutant strains were constructed by using the mini-Ura-blaster method. To create a CaCDC4 rescued strain, the plasmid p6HF-ACT1p-CaCDC4 capable of constitutively expressing CaCDC4 was introduced into the Cacdc4 homozygous null mutant. To determine the biofilm formation ability, an in vitro XTT (2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-5-[(phenylamino)carbonyl]-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide) reduction assay was used. Compared with the parental auxotrophic strain BWP17, the Cacdc4 homozygous null mutant was able to enhance biofilm formation significantly. This enhancement of biofilm formation in the Cacdc4 homozygous null mutant could be reversed by constitutively expressing CaCDC4. We conclude that CaCDC4 has a role in suppressing biofilm formation in C. albicans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, No. 110, Sec. 1, Jianguo N. Road, Taichung City 40201, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Ling
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Wei-Chung
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Tai-Lin
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wan Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Yu Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wan Chen
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chun-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jia-Ching
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Shieh
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
keywords: Candida albicans CDC4; XTT reduction assay; analyse de réduction du XTT; biofilm formation; formation de biofilm