Mechanism of phenotype difference in biofilm formation by Candida albicans isolated from the respiratory tract / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the molecular mechanism of the differences in biofilm formation abilities of Candida albicans isolated from the respiratory tract.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The biofilms formed by Candida albicans isolates from the respiratory tract and the standard strain ATCC90028 were examined for bacterial proliferation using XTT reduction assay. The mRNA expression of CPH1, EFG1, ALS3 and HWP1 in the isolates were measured with fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>XTT reduction assay demonstrated a strong ability of biofilm formation in 8 clinical isolates, and a relatively low biofilm formation ability in 7 clinical isolates and ATCC90028 strain. The strong and weak biofilm formers showed significant differences in ALS3 and HWP1 mRNA expressions (P<0.05) but not in EFG1 or CPH1 mRNA expressions (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The clinical isolates from the respiratory tract have different biofilm formation abilities under regulation by genes other than the transcription factors CPH1 and EFG1.</p>