Publication Date
4-2020
First Advisor
Ian Cleary
Second Advisor
Derek Thomas
Abstract
Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen and a member of the normal human microbiota. It is closely related to the harmless fungus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Some genes associated with the virulent nature of C. albicans are similar to genes in S. cerevisiae. Three of these genes, PHO13, NRG1, and TUP1 are known to repress the change from yeast to filamentous growth in C. albicans, an important virulence trait. However, similar genes in S. cerevisiae are known to have functional differences. Our goal was to see if the ancestral function of these genes have drifted apart by examining the expression of C. albicans genes in S. cerevisiae mutants. This will lead us to know more about the regulatory mechanisms of C. albicans. We have successfully constructed S. cerevisiae strains expressing C. albicans genes and are now in the process of testing phenotypic differences.
ScholarWorks Citation
Mack, Curtis, "Testing the Ancestral Function of Divergent Candida albicans Virulence-associated Proteins via Expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mutants" (2020). Student Scholars Day Posters. 37.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ssd_posters/37
