Candida albicans sexual regulators control expression of genes important for commensal fitness [RNA-seq]

We found through competitive fitness experiments that transcription factors that control the mating regulatory program of C. albicans also control the ability of this fungus to colonize the gastrointestinal tract of mice as a commensal. To determine the role of these TFs, we performed mRNA-seq on luminal contents of C. albicans-colonized mice to determine overall expression patterns that could be correlated to the fitness phenotypes of the mutants in vivo. Mice were gastrointestinally-colonized with one of seven C. albicans strains, WT (ySN250 or ySN425), hyperfit mutants WOR1-OE GUT, efg1, or efg1wor1, or hypofit mutants wor1 or czf1. After 10 days of colonization, mice were sacrificed and luminal contents isolated from the large intestines. mRNA-seq using standard Illumina kits was performed.