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The yeast Candida albicans has a distinguishing feature, dimorphism, which is the ability to switch between two morphological forms: a budding yeast form and a multicellular invasive filamentous form. This ability has been postulated to contribute to the virulence of this organism. Previously, we reported that the yeast-to-hypha transition in this organism is suppressed by farnesoic acid, a morphogenic autoregulatory substance that accumulates in the medium as the cells proliferate. In this study, using a differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) technique, we have identified several genes induced in C. albicans by farnesoic acid treatment. These observations indicate that farnesoic acid can alter the expressivity of multiple genes, including the DNA replication machinery and cell-cycle-control proteins.
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