ArticlePLoS biology2011
Alternative mating type configurations (a/α versus a/a or α/α) of Candida albicans result in alternative biofilms regulated by different pathways.
Article in PLoS biology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fungal biofilm formation and quorum sensing: Regulatory mechanisms and control strategies.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Review
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- Molecular Determinants Involved in Candida albicans Biofilm Formation and Regulation.Molecular biotechnology · 2024Review
- White-opaque switching inMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2024Review
- Farnesol as an antifungal agent: comparisons amongFrontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Candida albicans Double Mutants Lacking bothmSphere · 2020Article
- Unraveling HowJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- In Vitro Culturing and Screening of Candida albicans Biofilms.Current protocols in microbiology · 2018Article
- Mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK) and protein phosphatases are involved inCell surface (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2018Article
- Essential Oils and Antifungal Activity.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2017Review
- Protocol for Identifying Natural Agents That Selectively Affect Adhesion, Thickness, Architecture, Cellular Phenotypes, Extracellular Matrix, and Human White Blood Cell Impenetrability of Candida albicans Biofilms.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2017Article
- Negative regulation of filamentous growth in Candida albicans by Dig1p.Molecular microbiology · 2017Article
- Mating-type genes of the anamorphic fungus Ulocladium botrytis affect both asexual sporulation and sexual reproduction.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Real-Time Approach to Flow Cell Imaging of Candida albicans Biofilm Development.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2017Article
- Article
- The Extracellular Matrix of Candida albicans Biofilms Impairs Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps.PLoS pathogens · 2016Article
- Plasticity of Candida albicans Biofilms.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2016Review
- Binding Sites in the EFG1 Promoter for Transcription Factors in a Proposed Regulatory Network: A Functional Analysis in the White and Opaque Phases of Candida albicans.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2016Article
- Article
- Comparison of Switching and Biofilm Formation between MTL-Homozygous Strains of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis.Eukaryotic cell · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Similar multicellular structures can evolve within the same organism that may have different evolutionary histories, be controlled by different regulatory pathways, and play similar but nonidentical roles. In the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, a quite extraordinary example of this has occurred. Depending upon the configuration of the mating type locus (a/α versus a/a or α/α), C. albicans forms alternative biofilms that appear similar morphologically, but exhibit dramatically different characteristics and are regulated by distinctly different signal transduction pathways. Biofilms formed by a/α cells are impermeable to molecules in the size range of 300 Da to 140 kDa, are poorly penetrated by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), and are resistant to antifungals. In contrast, a/a or α/α biofilms are permeable to molecules in this size range, are readily penetrated by PMNs, and are susceptible to antifungals. By mutational analyses, a/α biofilms are demonstrated to be regulated by the Ras1/cAMP pathway that includes Ras1→Cdc35→cAMP(Pde2-|)→Tpk2(Tpk1)→Efg1→Tec1→Bcr1, and a/a biofilms by the MAP kinase pathway that includes Mfα→Ste2→ (Ste4, Ste18, Cag1)→Ste11→Hst7→Cek2(Cek1)→Tec1. These observations suggest the hypothesis that while the upstream portion of the newly evolved pathway regulating a/a and α/α cell biofilms was derived intact from the upstream portion of the conserved pheromone-regulated pathway for mating, the downstream portion was derived through modification of the downstream portion of the conserved pathway for a/α biofilm formation. C. albicans therefore forms two alternative biofilms depending upon mating configuration.
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Registered trials
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