A High-Throughput Candida albicans Two-Hybrid System

Abstract

Candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen, and due to the rise of fungal infections and emerging resistance to the limited antifungals available, it is important to develop novel and more specific antifungals. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) can be applied as very specific drug targets. However, because of the aberrant codon usage of C. albicans , the traditional yeast two-hybrid system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is difficult to use, and only a limited number of PPIs have been described in C. albicans . To overcome this, a C. albicans two-hybrid (C2H) system was developed in 2010. The current work describes, for the first time, the application of the C2H system in a high-throughput setup. We hereby show the usefulness of the C2H system to investigate and detect PPIs in C. albicans , making it possible to further elucidate protein networks in C. albicans , which has the potential to lead to the development of novel antifungals which specifically disrupt PPIs important for virulence.