Pseudohypha budding patterns ofCandida albicans

Abstract

Pseudohyphal growth of Candida albicans has been recognized as a morphological growth form that exhibits characteristics that are distinct from those of the budding yeast phase and true hyphal form of this pathogenic fungus. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pseudohypha growth involves synchronous unipolar cell divisions that are a modification of the bipolar budding pattern of diploid cells. While pseudohyphae of C. albicans also exhibit unipolar cell divisions, live cell imaging demonstrated departures from the normal unipolar pattern. Buds occasionally followed a bipolar or axial budding event in which buds could be formed from the proximal or distal ends of a parent pseudohypha. This extends the known morphological repertoire of cell division patterns in C. albicans pseudohyphal cells.