Being an Al-accumulating crop, buckwheat detoxifies and tolerates Al not only in roots but also in leaves. While much progress has recently been made toward Al toxicity and resistance mechanisms in roots, little is known about the molecular basis responsible for detoxification and tolerance processes in leaves. Here, we carried out transcriptome analysis of buckwheat leaves in response to Al st...

The Mediator complex is an essential co-regulator of RNA polymerase II that is conserved throughout eukaryotes. Here we present the first study of Mediator in the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. We focused on the Middle domain subunit Med31, the Head domain subunit Med20, and Srb9/Med13 from the Kinase domain. The C. albicans Mediator shares some roles with model yeasts Saccharomyces cerevi...

Pathogenic mechanisms of Candida glabrata in oral candidiasis, especially because of its inability to form hyphae, are understudied. Since both Candida albicans and C. glabrata are frequently co-isolated in oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), we examined their co-adhesion in vitro and observed adhesion of C. glabrata only to C. albicans hyphae microscopically. Mice were infected sublingually with ...

The common fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, can grow either as single cells or as filaments (hyphae), depending on environmental conditions. Several transcriptional regulators have been identified as having key roles in controlling filamentous growth, including the products of the TUP1, CPH1, and EFG1 genes. We show, through a set of single, double, and triple mutants, that these genes act in...

Candida albicans causes superficial and life-threatening systemic infections. These are difficult to treat often due to drug resistance, particularly because C. albicans biofilms are inherently resistant to most antifungals. Sophorolipid (SL), a glycolipid biosurfactant, has been shown to have antimicrobial and anticancer properties. In this study, we investigated the effect of SL on C. albican...

Targeted mutagenesis, editing of endogenous maize (Zea mays) genes, and site-specific insertion of a trait gene using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated (Cas)-guide RNA technology are reported in maize. DNA vectors expressing maize codon-optimized Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 endonuclease and single guide RNAs were cointroduced with or without DNA repai...

The use of natural compounds as an alternative source of antimicrobials has become a necessity given the growing concern over global antimicrobial resistance. Polyphenols, found in various edible plants, offers one potential solution to this. We aimed to investigate the possibility of using curcumin within the context of oral health as a way of inhibiting and preventing the harmful development ...

The motor neurons of patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) express abundant Q/R site-unedited GluR2 mRNA, whereas those of patients with other motor neuron diseases including familial ALS associated with mutated SOD1 (ALS1) and those of normal subjects express only Q/R site-edited GluR2 mRNA. Because adenosine deaminase acting on RNA type 2 (ADAR2) specifically catalyzes Gl...

Riccardin D, a macrocyclic bisbibenzyl isolated from Chinese liverwort Dumortiera hirsute, has been proved to have inhibitory effect on biofilms formation of Candida albicans in in vitro study. Our present study aims to investigate the in vivo effect and mechanisms of riccardin D against C. albicans biofilms when used alone or in combination with clinical using antifungal agent fluconazole. XTT...

INTRODUCTION Numerous environmental factors influence the pathogenesis of Candida biofilms and an understanding of these is necessary for appropriate clinical management. AIMS To investigate the role of material type, pellicle and stage of biofilm development on the viability, bioactivity, virulence and structure of C. albicans biofilms. METHODS The surface roughness (SR) and surface free e...