GSE53671
Discovery of a "White-Gray-Opaque" Tristable Phenotypic Switching System in Candida Albicans: Roles of Non-Genetic Diversity in Host Adaption
The capacity of the commensal yeast Candida albicans to grow in several forms, referred to as phenotypic plasticity, is critical for its survival, and abilities to thrive and cause infection in the human host. In this study, we report a novel phenotype of C. albicans, referred as the “gray” phenotype. The gray cell type, together with the previously discovered “white” and “opaque” cell types, forms a tristable phenotypic switching system. The three phenotypes differ in cellular and colony appearance, global transcriptional profiles, secreted aspartyl proteinase (Sap) activities and virulence in different infection models. The addition of the gray cell type to the phenotypic transition systems may enhance fitness and confers an adaptive advantage for C. albicans in the host. We further demonstrate that two key regulators of white-opaque switching, Wor1 and Efg1, are not required for maintenance of the gray phenotype, suggesting that a different regulatory circuitry may be involved in the regulation of gray cell formation. Our study provides an example of multiple stable and heritable switching systems, indicating that the regulation of morphological forms to adapt to environmental changes could be much more elaborate than previously thought. Overall design: total RNA profiles of 24h old white, gray and opaque cell types