Characterization of Candida albicans Virulence using a Caenorhabditis elegans Infection Model

We screened a C. albicans cell wall mutant library for mutants that show attenuation in their ability to filament within the worm. Our results revealed three novel genes in regards to having a role in C. albicans Pathogenesis. The novel genes included 1) LRG1, 2) ECM9, and 3) PGA6. Our focus was on the characterisation of two of these genes that were found to cause a severe defect in filamentation upon their deletion, LRG1 and ECM9. We also applied the C. elegans infection model for the study of other novel C. albicans genes that was part of collaborative work and is presented in Chapter 4 of this PhD thesis.