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Candida albicans is a microscopic fungus that lives in human hosts. Although the presence of Candida cells does not affect the health of most human hosts, if the host’s immune system is compromised, C. albicans can cause a range of human diseases, from non-life threatening vaginal or oral infections to severe bloodstream infections that are often fatal. The ability of C. albicans to switch growth forms between circular yeast cells and elongated hyphal cells is required for this fungus to cause disease in animal models. We use genetics, biochemistry and microscopy to understand how RNA-binding proteins, which help control what proteins are made by cells, impact this yeast-to-hyphal transition.

This image shows Candida albicans cells in which an RNA-binding protein named She3 is linked to green fluorescent protein (GFP) from a jellyfish.  She3 is known to transport some messenger RNAs (mRNAs) to the hyphal tip (1), which is where the GFP-tagged She3 protein accumulates.  Students in the McBride lab identified proteins that bind to She3.  Ongoing projects in the lab include investigating whether these She3-interacting proteins also have a role in hyphal formation and mRNA transport in Candida albicans.

(1) Elson SL, Noble SM, Solis NV, Filler SG, Johnson AD (2009) An RNA Transport System in Candida albicans Regulates Hyphal Morphology and Invasive Growth. PLOS Genetics 5(9): e1000664.