Analyzing the Role of a Protein Downregulated After Induction of Filamentous Growth in \u3ci\u3eCandida Albicans\u3c/i\u3e

Candida albicans is a commensal fungus, habitually living with its human host; however, it has the ability to cause invasive infections making this organism opportunistic. C. albicans is the fourth most frequent cause of nosocomial infections affecting a vulnerable immunocompromised population. C. albicans exhibits different morphologies including yeast, pseudohyphae, and hyphae. The varying morphological potential of this organism is a virulence trait. Because of this, research has focused on what drives and impedes morphological switching. During a filamentation assay, a novel observation pertaining to a subgroup of proteins being downregulated early after germination was made. Here, we examine the effect of one of these proteins in hypha inducing media to determine if it will have an impact on virulence. With the conditions tested thus far, no significant impacts on morphology have been observed. However, effects on virulence have been observed