High-Throughput Profiling of Candida auris Isolates Reveals Clade-Specific Metabolic Differences
Philipp Brandt, Mohammad H. Mirhakkak, Lysett Wagner, Dominik Driesch, Anna Möslinger, Pauline Fänder, Sascha Schäuble, Gianni Panagiotou, Slavena Vylkova
Abstract
Four main clades of the emerging, multidrug-resistant human pathogen Candida auris have been identified, and they differ in their susceptibilities to antifungals and disinfectants. Moreover, clade- and strain-specific metabolic differences have been identified, but a comprehensive overview of nutritional characteristics and resistance to various stressors is missing. Here, we performed high-throughput phenotypic characterization of C. auris on various nutrients, stressors, and chemicals and obtained transcriptomes of cells grown on selected nutrients. The generated data sets identified multiple clade- and strain-specific phenotypes and induction of C. auris-specific metabolic genes, showing unique metabolic properties. The presented work provides a large amount of information for further investigations that could explain the role of metabolism in emergence and pathogenicity of this multidrug-resistant fungus.