Use of Caenorhabditis elegans as a non-mammalian model system to study Candida virulence

Abstract

Candida albicans forms part of the normal human com- mensal flora but has the ability to cause serious, invasive disease in those who are immunosuppressed. One of its key virulence determinantsis its ability to transitionfroma yeast to a filamentous form. This article focuses on the utility of using the worm model, Caenorhabditis elegans, to study Candida pathogenesis. C. elegans provides an in vivo in- fection environment that is ideally suited to study the mechanismsoffilamentationanditsroleindisease.Findings from the C. elegans-Candida model appear highly predic- tive of findings in a mammalian infection model.