BACKGROUND To achieve high-level production of non-native isoprenoid products, it requires the metabolic flux to be diverted from the production of sterols to the heterologous metabolic reactions. However, there are limited tools for restricting metabolic flux towards ergosterol synthesis. In the present study, we explored dynamic control of ERG9 expression using different ergosterol-responsive...

Biofilm formation is often associated with persistent Candida albicans infections. Treatment of these infections is difficult, since sessile C. albicans cells show increased resistance towards antifungal agents. The molecular mechanisms behind biofilm resistance in C. albicans are not yet understood. In the present study, we investigated the transcriptional response in young and mature in vitro...

We previously reported the antifungal properties of a monoterpene phenol "Eugenol" against different Candida strains and have observed that the addition of methyl group to eugenol drastically increased its antimicrobial potency. Based on the results and the importance of medicinal synthetic chemistry, we synthesized eugenol-tosylate and its congeners (E1-E6) and tested their antifungal activity...

In Candida albicans, ergosterol biosynthetic genes, including ERG11, which encodes the target of azole antifungal drugs, are regulated by the transcriptional regulator Upc2p. To initially characterize the promoter of the UPC2 gene, 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends was used to identify two transcriptional initiation sites upstream of the ATG codon. The regions within the UPC2 promoter require...

Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) is essential for tumor progression in humans and drug resistance in fungi. However, the roles of its many co-chaperones in antifungal resistance are unknown. In this study, by susceptibility test of Neurospora crassa mutants lacking each of 18 Hsp90/Calcineurin system member genes (including 8 Hsp90 co-chaperone genes) to antifungal drugs and other stresses, we dem...

Given the alarming news about drugresistant super bugs, it’s a relief to know that at least one drug still works even after 50 years of clinical use. Even better, researchers think they finally know why. The drug is amphotericin B and it kills the fungus Candida albicans, a common hospital-acquired infection that can be lifethreatening. In this issue of PLOS Biology, Lindquist and colleagues sh...