The transcriptional circuitry controlling biofilm development in Candida albicans

描述(申请人提供)：酵母菌白色念珠菌是人类消化道的正常居民。它也是人类最常见的真菌病原体，可引起黏膜和全身感染，特别是在免疫功能低下的患者中。这项提案试图了解白色念珠菌如何协调生物膜的形成--弹性的、表面相关的、有组织的细胞团。生物膜的形成具有医学意义，因为新的白色念珠菌感染与植入的医疗设备高度相关，这些设备为生物膜的形成提供了有效的底物。我们研究生物膜形成的方法是通过解剖控制这一过程的转录电路。我们的首要目标是了解该回路的单个靶基因如何对生物膜的关键特性做出贡献，如耐药性、细胞间黏附和细胞外基质的产生。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The yeast Candida albicans is a normal resident of the human digestive tract. It is also the most common fungal pathogen of humans, causing both mucosal and systemic infections, particularly in immune compromised patients. This proposal seeks to understand how C. albicans orchestrates the formation of biofilms - resilient, surface- associated, organized groups of cells. Biofilm formation is medically relevant because new C. albicans infections are highly correlated with implanted medical devices, which provide efficient substrates for biofilm formation. Our approach to the study of biofilm formation is through dissection of the transcriptional circuitry that controls this process. Our overarching goal is to understand how the individual target genes of the circuit contribute to the key properties of biofilms, such as drug resistance, cell-cell adhesion, and production of extracellular matrix.