Genetic Analysis of NDT80 Family Transcription Factors in Candida albicans Using New CRISPR-Cas9 Approaches

Abstract

Transcription factors play key roles in regulating virulence of the human fungal pathogen C. albicans . In addition to regulating the expression of virulence factors, they also control the ability of C. albicans to switch to filamentous hyphal growth, which facilitates biofilm formation on medical devices and invasion into tissues. We therefore used new CRISPR/Cas9 methods to examine the effects of deleting three C. albicans genes ( NDT80 , REP1 , and RON1 ) that encode transcription factors with similar DNA binding domains. Interestingly, double and triple mutant strains mostly showed the combined properties of the single mutants; there was only very limited evidence of synergistic interactions in regulating morphogenesis, stress resistance, and ability to metabolize different sugars. These results demonstrate that NDT80 , REP1 , and RON1 have distinct functions in regulating C. albicans virulence functions.