Induction of the Candida albicans filamentous growth program by relief of transcriptional repression: a genome-wide analysis

Candida albicans, the major human fungal pathogen, undergoes a reversible morphological transition from blastospores (round budding cells) to filaments (elongated cells attached end-to-end). This transition, which is induced upon exposure of C. albicans cells to a number of host conditions, including serum and body temperature (37 degrees C), is required for virulence. Using whole-genome DNA microarray analysis, we describe 61 genes that are significantly induced (> or =2-fold) during the blastospore to filament transition that takes place in response to exposure to serum and 37 degrees C. We next show that approximately half of these genes are transcriptionally repressed in the blastospore state by three transcriptional repressors, Rfg1, Nrg1, and Tup1. We conclude that the relief of this transcriptional repression plays a key role in bringing the C. albicans filamentous growth program into play, and we describe the framework of this transcriptional circuit.