Most strains of Candida albicans undergo high frequency phenotypic switching. Strain WO-1 undergoes the white-opaque transition, which involves changes in colony and cellular morphology, gene expression, and virulence. We have hypothesized that the switch event involves heritable changes in chromatin structure. To test this hypothesis, we transiently exposed cells to the histone deacetylase inh...

A 14-mer alpha-pheromone peptide of Candida albicans was chemically synthesized and used to analyze the role of white-opaque switching in the mating process. The alpha-pheromone peptide blocked cell multiplication and induced "shmooing" in a/a cells expressing the opaque-phase phenotype but not in a/a cells expressing the white-phase phenotype. The alpha-pheromone peptide induced these effects ...

The human pathogen Candida albicans undergoes a well-defined switch between two distinct cell types, named 'white' and 'opaque'. White and opaque cells differ in metabolic preferences, mating behaviours, cellular morphologies and host interactions. Each cell type is stable through many generations; switching between them is rare, stochastic and occurs without any known changes in the primary se...

To mate, the fungal pathogen Candida albicans must undergo homozygosis at the mating-type locus and then switch from the white to opaque phenotype. Paradoxically, opaque cells were found to be unstable at physiological temperature, suggesting that mating had little chance of occurring in the host, the main niche of C. albicans. Recently, however, it was demonstrated that high levels of CO(2), e...

Background and Aim: This study evaluated the effect of hydrothermal aging on opti-cal and mechanical properties of opaque and translucent zirconia. Materials and Methods: For the biaxial flexural strength (BFS) test, 40 sintered opaque and translucent disc-shaped zirconia, and for the assessment of surface rough-ness and optical properties, 20 specimens were fabricated and artificially aged in...

2100 Imagine identical twin sisters, one short, dark-haired, and zaftig; the other tall, blond, and willowy. You’re not likely to run across this pair, since identical twins possess matching genomes and thus, when raised under the same conditions, look alike. But some organisms, like the fungus Candida albicans, can assume dramatically different, heritable forms even though they share identical...