The Behavior of Candida Albicans Filamentation in Response to Estrogen and Fetal Bovine Serum Exposure in Liquid Media
Faculty Sponsor
Patrice Bouyer
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/Program
Biology Department
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Summer 7-14-2023
Abstract
C. albicans is an opportunistic fungus which under not yet well defined cues shifts morphology from yeast to filamentous and becomes invasive. During sepsis, estrogen levels are elevated. Thus, we hypothesized that estrogen could act as a signal for C. albicans to become filamentous. In this study, we used 3 media: minimum, spider, and YEPD to test the effect of estrogen and fetal bovine serum (FBS, positive control) on C. albicans filamentous growth. Our experimental setup was: control, 0.1 nM estrogen, 10% FBS, and FBS with estrogen. Every day for 2 days, we took 5 random pictures using a brightfield microscope and scored one if filaments were visible or zero if filaments were not visible. Our results show in YEPD that FBS and FBS + estrogen had significantly more pictures with filaments compared to control at day 1 and 2 (P=0.001, ANOVA Dunnett post hoc). In minimum, FBS + E2 had significantly less pictures than control (P
Recommended Citation
Tewoldemedhin, Sara; Bouyer, Patrice; and Gundelach, George, "The Behavior of Candida Albicans Filamentation in Response to Estrogen and Fetal Bovine Serum Exposure in Liquid Media" (2023). Summer Interdisciplinary Research Symposium. 163.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/sires/163
