High Resolution Respirometry in Candida albicans

Lucian Duvenage; Carol A Munro; Campbell W Gourlay

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3361

High Resolution Respirometry in Candida albicans

Bio Protoc. 2019 Sep 5;9(17):e3361. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3361.

Authors

Lucian Duvenage¹, Carol A Munro², Campbell W Gourlay¹

Affiliations

¹ Kent Fungal Group, School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Kent, CT2 9HY, UK.
² MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD.

Abstract

Many Candida species, such as the opportunistic human pathogen Candida albicans, are Crabtree-Negative yeasts and are therefore highly dependent on the energy generated through oxidative phosphorylation. Respiration control is linked to a range of aspects of C. albicans cell physiology that appear to be important for virulence, most notably its ability to switch from yeast to hyphal forms and the maintenance of the cell wall. The following protocol allows for the measurement and characterization of respiration in C. albicans using high resolution respirometry. We outline how addition of respiration inhibitors can be used to assay the "mode" of respiration, mitochondrial health and the level of electron transport that is coupled to ATP synthase activity in living cell cultures. These data provide useful insight into the effects of external factors, such as exposure to anti-fungal compounds, or internal changes such as genetic alterations on respiratory performance.

Keywords: Candida; Metabolism; Mitochondria; Respiration; Respirometry; Yeast.