Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System To Assess Candida glabrata, , and Virulence and Antifungal Efficacy.

Although remains the major etiological agent of invasive candidiasis, and other emerging species of are increasingly isolated. This species is the second most prevalent cause of candidiasis in many regions of the world. However, clinical isolates of and can be misidentified and are underdiagnosed due to phenotypic traits shared with Little is known about the two cryptic species. Therefore, pathogenesis studies are needed to understand their virulence traits and their susceptibility to antifungal drugs. The susceptibility of to different species makes this nematode an excellent model for assessing host-fungus interactions. We evaluated the usefulness of as a nonconventional host model to analyze the virulence of , , and The three species caused candidiasis, and the highest virulence of was confirmed. Furthermore, we determined the efficacy of current antifungal drugs against the infection caused by these species in the model. Amphotericin B and azoles showed the highest activity against and infections, while echinocandins were more active for treating those caused by proved to be a useful model system for assessing the pathogenicity of these closely related species.