Candida albicans Isolates 529L and CHN1 Exhibit Stable Colonization of the Murine Gastrointestinal Tract
Liam D. McDonough, Animesh A. Mishra, Nicholas Tosini, Pallavi Kakade, Swathi Penumutchu, Shen-Huan Liang, Corrine Maufrais, Bing Zhai, Ying Taur, Peter Belenky, Richard J. Bennett, Tobias M. Hohl, Andrew Y. Koh, Iuliana V. Ene
Abstract
Understanding how fungi colonize the GI tract is increasingly recognized as highly relevant to human health. The animal models used to study Candida albicans commensalism commonly rely on altering the host microbiome (via antibiotic treatment or defined diets) to establish successful GI colonization by the C. albicans reference isolate SC5314. Here, we characterize two C. albicans isolates that can colonize the murine GI tract without antibiotic treatment and can therefore be used as tools for studying fungal commensalism. Importantly, experiments were replicated in three different animal facilities and utilized three different mouse strains. Differential colonization between fungal isolates was not associated with alterations in the bacterial microbiome but rather with distinct responses to CRAMP, a host antimicrobial peptide. This work emphasizes the importance of C. albicans intraspecies variation as well as host antimicrobial defense mechanisms in defining the outcome of commensal interactions.