Variation in Candida albicans EFG1 expression enables host-dependent changes in colonizing fungal populations

To understand differences in host-Candida albicans interactions that occur during colonization of healthy or compromised hosts, production of phenotypic variants and colonization of healthy or immunodeficient mice by C. albicans were studied. We showed that activity of the transcription factor Efg1p exhibited cell-to-cell variability and identified Efg1p as a major regulator of colonization. In C. albicans populations colonizing the murine gastrointestinal tract, average expression of EFG1 differed depending on the immune status of the host. We propose that cellular heterogeneity in Efg1p activity allows the C. albicans colonizing population to differ depending on the immune status of the host, because selective pressure from a healthy host alters the composition of the population. These data are the first demonstration that differences in host immune status are associated with differences in gene expression in colonizing C. albicans cells. Altered gene expression in organisms colonizing immunocompromised hosts may begin the transition of C. albicans from a commensal to a pathogen.

In healthy people, the fungus Candida albicans colonizes the gastrointestinal tract and other sites without producing obvious pathology. In an immunocompromised patient, the organism can cause serious disease. The demonstration that the expression and activity of the C. albicans transcription factor Efg1p differs during colonization of healthy or immunocompromised mice shows that the organism adjusts its physiology when colonizing different hosts. Further, the effects of a healthy host on a heterogeneous C. albicans population containing cells with different levels of Efg1p activity show that selective pressure in the host can change the makeup of the population, allowing the population to respond to host immune status. The ability to sense host status may be key to the ability of C. albicans to colonize as a harmless commensal in some hosts but become a deadly pathogen in others.