Transcriptional response of Candida albicans to the utilization of aromatic compounds as the sole carbon source

Main goal of this analysis was to idnetify metabolic adaptation processes in C. albicans when aromatic compounds, like catechol or hydroquinone are used as the sole carbon source (C-source) and how this is mediated on the transcriptional level. Further, a suspected regulatory activity of the transcription factors Stp2, a central regulator of amino acid metabolism, and Zcf25, a putative regulator of the oxoadipate pathway, on these processes was investigated. Therefore, the SC5314 wild type and single and dual knockout strains of the aforementioned regulators (stp2?, zcf25?, stp2?/zcf25?) were incubated in medium containing either glucose (SD), a mixture of proteinogenioc amino acids (SC), catechol (CAT) or hydroquinone (HQN) as the sole C-source and the cellular transcriptome investigated via RNA-Sequencing to define trasncriptional changes in response to the indicated different C-sources. Overall design: Indicated C. albicans strains were pre-incubated in SD minimal medium and transferred to experimental medium containing only the indicated C-source (SD, SC, CAT, HQN) and incubated for 4 h. Cellular transcriptomes were assessed via RNA-Sequencing in biological triplicates.