BACKGROUND Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto, Candida orthopsilosis, and Candida metapsilosis are cryptic species that belong to the C. parapsilosis complex, which has been increasingly associated to fungemia in various geographic regions, principally due to the capability of these yeasts to form biofilms on indwelling medical devices. BCR1 is one of the most studied genes related to Candida s...

Candida albicans triggers recurrent infections of the oropharyngeal mucosa that result from biofilm growth. Prior studies have indicated that the transcription factor Bcr1 regulates biofilm formation in a catheter model, both in vitro and in vivo. We thus hypothesized that Bcr1 plays similar roles in the formation of oral mucosal biofilms and tested this hypothesis in a mouse model of oral infe...

Cell-substrate adherence is a fundamental property of microorganisms that enables them to exist in biofilms. Our study focuses on adherence of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans to one substrate, silicone, that is relevant to device-associated infection. We conducted a mutant screen with a quantitative flow-cell assay to identify thirty transcription factors that are required for adherence. W...

Hwp1 is a well-characterized Candida albicans cell surface protein, expressed only on hyphae, that mediates tight binding to oral epithelial cells. Prior studies indicate that HWP1 expression is dependent upon Bcr1, a key regulator of biofilm formation. Here we test the hypothesis that Hwp1 is required for biofilm formation. In an in vitro model, the hwp1/hwp1 mutant produces a thin biofilm tha...

Candida parapsilosis is a pathogenic fungus that is major cause of hospital-acquired infection, predominantly due to growth as biofilms on indwelling medical devices. It is related to Candida albicans, which remains the most common cause of candidiasis disease in humans. The transcription factor Bcr1 is an important regulator of biofilm formation in vitro in both C. parapsilosis and C. albicans...

Fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans exhibit several survival mechanisms to evade attack by antifungals and colonise host tissues. Rta3, a member of the Rta1-like family of lipid-translocating exporters has a 7-transmembrane domain topology, similar to the G-protein-coupled receptors and is unique to the fungal kingdom. Our findings point towards a role for the plasma membrane localised Rt...

INTRODUCTION Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia (APL) is associated with devastating coagulopathy and life threatening condition which requires immediate medical attention. It is crucial to establish an expedited diagnosis as early therapeutic intervention has led to optimal patient management. In this study, we assessed the type and frequency of antigen expressions in APL and correlated these findi...

Candida albicans is among the most prevalent opportunistic fungal pathogens. Its capacity to cause life-threatening bloodstream infections is associated with the ability to form biofilms, which are intrinsically drug resistant reservoirs for dispersal. A key regulator of biofilm drug resistance and dispersal is the molecular chaperone Hsp90, which stabilizes many signal transducers. We previous...

Eukaryotic cell growth is coordinated in response to nutrient availability, growth factors, and environmental stimuli, enabling cell-cell interactions that promote survival. The rapamycin-sensitive Tor1 protein kinase, which is conserved from yeasts to humans, participates in a signaling pathway central to cellular nutrient responses. To gain insight into Tor-mediated processes in human fungal ...

In nature, many microorganisms form specialized complex, multicellular, surface-attached communities called biofilms. These communities play critical roles in microbial pathogenesis. The fungal pathogen Candida albicans is associated with catheter-based infections due to its ability to establish biofilms. The transcription factor Bcr1 is a master regulator of C. albicans biofilm development, al...