Ura-status-dependent adhesion of Candida albicans mutants

Gene disruptions in the diploid opportunistic human fungal pathogen Candida albicans are usually created using multiple rounds of targeted integration called the 'ura-blaster' method. Resulting heterozygous and homozygous null mutants can be auxotrophic (Ura-) or prototrophic (Ural) for uracil biosynthesis. Here we demonstrate that the Ura-status of otherwise isogenic mutants affected the adhesion of C albicans. Moreover the effect of Ura-status on adhesion was also dependent on the null mutant background, the nature of the underlying surface and the carbon source for growth. Therefore the Ura-status is not neutral in determining adhesive properties of C albicans mutants that are generated via the ura-blaster protocol. (C) 2001 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.