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RESEARCH ARTICLE

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

Farkad Bantun A B , Sanjiveeni Dhamgaye A and Anton Y Peleg A C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Vic., Australia

B Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia

C Department of Infectious Diseases, Central Clinical School, The Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia

D Corresponding author. Tel: +61 3 9076 8491, Fax: +61 3 9076 2431, Email: anton.peleg@monash.edu

Microbiology Australia 36(2) 98-100 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA15032
Published: 17 March 2015

Abstract

Candida albicans forms part of the normal human commensal flora but has the ability to cause serious, invasive disease in those who are immunosuppressed. One of its key virulence determinants is its ability to transition from a 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 infection environment that is ideally suited to study the mechanisms of filamentation and its role in disease. Findings from the C. elegans-Candida model appear highly predictive of findings in a mammalian infection model.


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