A Flow-assay for Farnesol Removal from Adherent Cultures.

Here, we describe a protocol for a continuous flow system for cultures growing adherent to a plastic surface. The protocol was adapted from a previous method established to simulate blood flow on endothelial cells (Wilson and Hube, 2010). The adapted protocol was used by us for the removal of molecules in supernatants, especially farnesol, which accumulate over the time course of incubation and cannot be specifically depleted.

Farnesol signalling in Candida albicans - more than just communication.

Candida albicans is a successful colonizer of the human host, which can, under certain circumstances cause a range of clinically diverse infections. Important virulence-associated traits of the fungus, such as the dimorphic switch and biofilm formation, are controlled by the quorum sensing molecule farnesol. Given the potential of farnesol as a novel antifungal drug, there has been increasing research into the mechanism underlying farnesol sensing and action in C.

Quorum sensing by farnesol revisited.

Quorum sensing, a form of molecular communication in microbial communities, is relatively well studied in bacterial species, but poorly understood in fungi. Farnesol, a quorum sensing molecule secreted by the opportunistic human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans, was the first quorum sensing molecule described in a eukaryotic organism. However, despite considerable research efforts and advances in recent years, the mechanisms behind its action remain largely elusive.

A functional link between hyphal maintenance and quorum sensing in Candida albicans.

Morphogenesis in Candida albicans requires hyphal initiation and maintenance, and both processes are regulated by the fungal quorum sensing molecule (QSM) farnesol. We show that deletion of C. albicans EED1, which is crucial for hyphal extension and maintenance, led to a dramatically increased sensitivity to farnesol, and thus identified the first mutant hypersensitive to farnesol.

Enemies and brothers in arms: Candida albicans and gram-positive bacteria.

Candida albicans is an important human opportunistic fungal pathogen which is frequently found as part of the normal human microbiota. It is well accepted that the fungus interacts with other components of the resident microbiota and that this impacts the commensal or pathogenic outcome of C. albicans colonization.

Candida survival strategies.

Only few Candida species, e.g., Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida dubliniensis, and Candida parapsilosis, are successful colonizers of a human host.

Functional dissection of SiiE, a giant non-fimbrial adhesin of Salmonella enterica.

Salmonella enterica deploys the giant non-fimbrial adhesin SiiE to adhere to the apical side of polarized epithelial cells. The establishment of close contact is a prerequisite for subsequent invasion mediated by translocation of effector proteins of the Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 (SPI1)-encoded type III secretion system (T3SS). Although SiiE is secreted into the culture medium, the adhesin is retained on the bacterial envelope in the phase of highest bacterial invasiveness.