conclusion mature biofilms were found to be much more resistant to antifungal agents and the host immune system than free cells. the factors responsible for high resistance included the complex architecture of biofilms, ecm, increased expression of drug efflux pumps, and metabolic plasticity. objectives the present work investigated certain aspects of the resistance of c. albicans biofilms to d...

Overexpression of pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) efflux pumps of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily is the major cause of fungal multi-drug resistance and decreased efficacy of antifungal drugs. This review focused on recent progresses in understanding of the PDR efflux pumps of ABC transporter superfamily in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the fungal pathogens Candida albic...

Candida species, including the novel opportunistic pathogen Candida dubliniensis, are now emerging as major agents of nosocomial infections. Many such manifestations of infections associated with the formation of Candida biofilms include those occurring on devices such as indwelling intravascular catheters. Fungal biofilm-associated infections are frequently refractory to conventional therapy b...

The 12th European Conference on Fungal Genetics (ECFG) was held in Seville, Spain on March 23-27, 2014. The meeting covered topics as diverse as fungal genetics, genomics, molecular cell biology, evolution, pathogenesis, and biotechnology. Despite such diversity, as the meeting progressed, it became evident that epigenetics are now an important part of genomic studies on fungal biology and evol...

The emergence of drug resistance in microbial pathogens provides a poignant example of an evolutionary process with a profound impact on human health. Fungal drug resistance poses a particular concern given the limited number of clinically useful antifungal drugs and the growing population of immunocompromised individuals vulnerable to life-threatening fungal disease [1]. The efficacy of most a...

The molecular chaperone Hsp90 orchestrates regulatory circuitry governing fungal morphogenesis, biofilm development, drug resistance, and virulence. Hsp90 functions in concert with co-chaperones to regulate stability and activation of client proteins, many of which are signal transducers. Here, we characterize the first Hsp90 co-chaperone in the leading human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. ...

UNLABELLED Cryptococcus neoformans is a human fungal pathogen and a major cause of fungal meningitis in immunocompromised individuals. Treatment options for cryptococcosis are limited. Of the two major antifungal drug classes, azoles are active against C. neoformans but exert a fungistatic effect, necessitating long treatment regimens and leaving open an avenue for emergence of azole resistance...