Response of M. guilliermondii to macrophage phagocytosis

Pathogenic Candida fungi are a leading cause of opportunistic, hospital-associated bloodstream infections with high mortality rates, typically in immunocompromised patients. Several species, including C. albicans, the most prevalent cause of infection, belong to the monophyletic CUG clade of yeasts. Much is known about the interaction of C. albicans with innate immune cells, which are crucial for controlling infection. Phagocytosis of C. albicans elicits transcriptional induction of several pathways involved in catabolism of non-glucose carbon sources that are important for virulence, termed alternative carbon metabolism. However, the response of other CUG clade species has not been characterized. In a separate dataset, we profiled transcriptional responses to primary murine bone marrow derived macrophages in six Candida species. Here we additionally profiled the response of M. guilliermondii, a yeast that is known as a cause of disseminated candidiasis as well as cutaneous infections. We find that similar to other CUG-clade Candida species, it mounts a robust alternative carbon metabolism response to phagocytosis. The transcriptional response of M. guilliermondii to phagocytosis was analysed by incubating M. guilliermondii fungi in mammalian medium in the presence or absence of primary macrophages for 1 hour, followed by RNA extraction and sequencing. This experiment was performed in triplicate.