TY - JOUR
T1 - In vivo and in vitro anaerobic mating in Candida albicans
AU - Dumitru, Raluca
AU - Navarathna, Dhammika H.M.L.P.
AU - Semighini, Camile P.
AU - Elowsky, Christian G.
AU - Dumitru, Razvan V.
AU - Dignard, Daniel
AU - Whiteway, Malcolm
AU - Atkin, Audrey L.
AU - Nickerson, Kenneth W.
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - Candida albicans cells of opposite mating types are thought to conjugate during infection in mammalian hosts, but paradoxically, the mating-competent opaque state is not stable at mammalian body temperatures. We found that anaerobic conditions stabilize the opaque state at 37°C, block production of famesol, and permit in vitro mating at 37°C at efficiencies of up to 84%. Aerobically, farnesol prevents mating because it kills the opaque cells necessary for mating, and as a corollary, farnesol production is turned off in opaque cells. These in vitro observations suggest that naturally anaerobic sites, such as the efficiently colonized gastrointestinal (GI) tract, could serve as niches for C. albicans mating. In a direct test of mating in the mouse GI tract, prototrophic cells were obtained from auxotrophic parent cells, confirming that mating will occur in this organ. These cells were true mating products because they were tetraploid, mononuclear, and prototrophic, and they contained the heterologous hisG marker from one of the parental strains.
AB - Candida albicans cells of opposite mating types are thought to conjugate during infection in mammalian hosts, but paradoxically, the mating-competent opaque state is not stable at mammalian body temperatures. We found that anaerobic conditions stabilize the opaque state at 37°C, block production of famesol, and permit in vitro mating at 37°C at efficiencies of up to 84%. Aerobically, farnesol prevents mating because it kills the opaque cells necessary for mating, and as a corollary, farnesol production is turned off in opaque cells. These in vitro observations suggest that naturally anaerobic sites, such as the efficiently colonized gastrointestinal (GI) tract, could serve as niches for C. albicans mating. In a direct test of mating in the mouse GI tract, prototrophic cells were obtained from auxotrophic parent cells, confirming that mating will occur in this organ. These cells were true mating products because they were tetraploid, mononuclear, and prototrophic, and they contained the heterologous hisG marker from one of the parental strains.
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U2 - 10.1128/EC.00316-06
DO - 10.1128/EC.00316-06
M3 - Article
C2 - 17259544
AN - SCOPUS:33947664882
SN - 1535-9778
VL - 6
SP - 465
EP - 472
JO - Eukaryotic Cell
JF - Eukaryotic Cell
IS - 3
ER -