Abstract
Candida parapsilosis is among the most frequent causes of candidiasis. Clinical isolates of this species show large variations in colony morphotype, ranging from round and smooth to a variety of non-smooth irregular colony shapes. A non-smooth appearance is related to increased formation of pseudohyphae, higher capacity to form biofilms on abiotic surfaces, and invading agar. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the cell wall proteome of C. parapsilosis reference strain CDC317 and seven clinical isolates under planktonic and sessile conditions. This analysis resulted in the identification of 40 wall proteins, most of them homologs of known Candida albicans cell wall proteins, such as Gas, Crh, Bgl2, Cht2, Ecm33, Sap, Sod, Plb, Pir, Pga30, Pga59, and adhesin family members. Comparative analysis of exponentially growing and stationary phase planktonic cultures of CDC317 at 30 °C and 37 °C revealed only minor variations. However, comparison of smooth isolates to non-smooth isolates with high biofilm formation capacity showed an increase in abundance and diversity of putative wall adhesins from Als, Iff/Hyr, and Hwp families in the latter. This difference depended more strongly on strain phenotype than on the growth conditions, as it was observed in planktonic as well as biofilm cells. Thus, in the set of isolates analyzed, the high biofilm formation capacity of non-smooth C. parapsilosis isolates with elongated cellular phenotypes correlates with the increased surface expression of putative wall adhesins in accordance with their proposed cellular function.
Highlights
Candida parapsilosis is a frequent cause of nosocomial and bloodstream infections, especially in critically ill neonates and immunocompromised patients [1]
The first aim of this study was to obtain a comprehensive inventory of covalentlybound cell wall proteins in the widely used C. parapsilosis reference strain CDC317
We have presented a comprehensive study of the covalently-bound cell wall proteome in C. parapsilosis
Summary
Candida parapsilosis is a frequent cause of nosocomial and bloodstream infections, especially in critically ill neonates and immunocompromised patients [1]. Premature infants with a low birth weight are a principal risk group for acquiring C. parapsilosis infections due to the requirement of parenteral nutrition using abiotic devices, such as indwelling catheters [2]. This increases the probability of biofilm formation by this yeast, either alone or in combination with other Candida species or nosocomial bacteria. Biofilm productivity has been reported for many C. parapsilosis sensu stricto isolates, data for the related C. parapsilosis complex species Candida orthopsilosis and Candida metapsilosis are less conclusive, and seem to depend on the tested surface material or strain background [8,9]
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