Candida albicans exposure to antifungal polymers
Candida albicans is an important and often deadly fungal pathogen of humans. Few antifungals are available for treatment of infections, and resistances are an increasing problem. In this study, we tested a novel approach, a synthetic polymer inspired by antifungal peptides. In order to determine the ability of C. albicans to develop resistance, we exposed the fungus to sub-inhibitory concentrations of our new polymer (as well as to the known antifungals, caspofungin and fluconazole) in a serial passage laboratory evolution experiments. Genome sequences were obtained after 14 days when tolerance developed. We found aneuploidies in most resistant strains, some of which are known to be connected to specific drug resistances. The details are described in the main manuscript.