To switch or not to switch?: Phenotypic switching is sensitive to multiple inputs in a pathogenic fungus

Abstract

andida albicans is the most commonly isolated human fungal pathogen and uses a diverse repertoire of morphological transitions to aid colonization and infection. In a recent paper we discuss how one of these transitions, the white-to-opaque switch, is affected both by cell stress and by several other conditions that change the rate of cell growth. Based on our findings, we propose that the master regulator of the white-to-opaque switch, WOR1, acts as a sensitive monitor of both intrinsic and environmental conditions. © 2009 Landes Bioscience.