RNA-seq of Candida albicans Hda1 complex mutants (hda1??, hda2?? and hda3??) and wildtype SN152 in yeast and hyphae inducing conditions

Candida albicans is a normally commensal yeast which becomes pathogenic to human hosts under some conditions and specifically in immune compromised individuals. This contributes to a global health crisis of fungal disease. This yeast can morphologically adapt to the environment by reversibly developing hyphae which allows for traversing of tissue. Histone deacetylase 1 (Hda1) is involved in this transition as it is established that the deletion of the associated gene stunts this morphological switch. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae this protein complexes with two similarly named proteins: Hda2 and Hda3. Here we evaluate Candida albicans strains with mutations in the genes that code for these proteins. The strains are grown in yeast (YPD 30 °C) and hyphae (RPMI 37 °C) -inducing conditions for 90 minutes prior to RNA extraction. After alignment by HISAT2, the homozygous mutants are then individually compared to wildtype (matching growth conditions) using DESeq2.