Candida Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Candida, including details on thrush infections, yeast, diet, treatment, symptoms.

Genome-wide transcription profiling of the early phase of biofilm formation by Candida albicans.

Murillo LA, Newport G, Lan CY, Habelitz S, Dungan J, Agabian NM

Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California, San Francisco, 521 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94143-0422, USA.

The ability to adhere to surfaces and develop as a multicellular community is an adaptation used by most microorganisms to survive in changing environments. Biofilm formation proceeds through distinct developmental phases and impacts not only medicine but also industry and evolution. In organisms such as the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans, the ability to grow as biofilms is also an important mechanism for persistence, facilitating its growth on different tissues and a broad range of abiotic surfaces used in medical devices. The early stage of C. albicans biofilm is characterized by the adhesion of single cells to the substratum, followed by the formation of an intricate network of hyphae and the beginning of a dense structure. Changes in the transcriptome begin within 30 min of contact with the substrate and include expression of genes related to sulfur metabolism, in particular MET3, and the equivalent gene homologues of the Ribi regulon in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Some of these changes are initiated early and maintained throughout the process; others are restricted to the earliest stages of biofilm formation. We identify here a potential alternative pathway for cysteine metabolism and the biofilm-associated expression of genes involved in glutathione production in C. albicans.

Published 9 September 2005 in Eukaryot Cell, 4(9): 1562-73.
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