Phenotypic switching in Candida tropicalis alters host-pathogen interactions in a Galleria mellonella infection model.
Hugo F PeriniAlane T P MoralezRicardo S C AlmeidaLuciano A PanagioAdmilton O G JuniorFernando Gomes BarcellosLuciana Furlaneto-MaiaMarcia Cristina FurlanetoPublished in: Scientific reports (2019)
Candida tropicalis is a human pathogen associated with high mortality rates. We have reported a switching system in C. tropicalis consisting of five morphotypes - the parental, switch variant (crepe and rough), and revertant (crepe and rough) strains, which exhibited altered virulence in a Galleria mellonella model. Here, we evaluate whether switching events may alter host-pathogen interactions by comparing the attributes of the innate responses to the various states. All switched strains induced higher melanization in G. mellonella larvae than that induced by the parental strain. The galiomicin expression was higher in the larvae infected with the crepe and rough morphotypes than that in the larvae infected with the parental strain. Hemocytes preferentially phagocytosed crepe variant cells over parental cells in vitro. In contrast, the rough variant cells were less phagocytosed than the parental strain. The hemocyte density was decreased in the larvae infected with the crepe variant compared to that in the larvae infected with the parental strain. Interestingly, larvae infected with the revertant of crepe restored the hemocyte density levels that to those observed for larvae infected with the parental strain. Most of the switched strains were more resistant to hemocyte candidacidal activity than the parental strain. These results indicate that the switch states exhibit similarities as well as important differences during infection in a G. mellonella model.
Keyphrases
- aedes aegypti
- induced apoptosis
- escherichia coli
- drosophila melanogaster
- candida albicans
- cell cycle arrest
- immune response
- endothelial cells
- poor prognosis
- magnetic resonance
- staphylococcus aureus
- biofilm formation
- type diabetes
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- cardiovascular disease
- magnetic resonance imaging
- cell proliferation
- computed tomography
- cell death
- binding protein
- long non coding rna