title: The gray phenotype and tristable phenotypic transitions in the human fungal pathogen Candida tropicalis.
abstract: Phenotypic plasticity, the ability to switch between different morphological types, plays critical roles in environmental adaptation, leading to infections, and allowing for sexual reproduction in pathogenic Candida species. Candida tropicalis, which is both an emerging human fungal pathogen and an environmental fungus, can switch between two heritable cell types termed white and opaque. In this study, we report the discovery of a novel phenotype in C. tropicalis, named the gray phenotype. Similar to Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis, white, gray, and opaque cell types of C. tropicalis also form a tristable switching system, where gray cells are relatively small and elongated. In C. tropicalis, gray cells exhibit intermediate levels of mating competency and virulence in a mouse systemic infection model compared to the white and opaque cell types, express a set of cell type-enriched genes, and exhibit both common and species-specific biological features. The key regulators of white-opaque transitions, Wor1 and Efg1, are not required for the gray phenotype. A comparative study of the gray phenotypes in C. tropicalis, C. albicans, and C. dubliniensis provides clues to explain the virulence properties and niche preferences of C. tropicalis.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Yulong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qiuyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Guobo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
authors.forename: Clarissa J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Nobile
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Qiushi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xuefen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: huanggh@im.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D041022:Candida tropicalis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Candida tropicalis; Efg1; Gray phenotype; Tristable phenotypic transitions; White-opaque switching; Wor1