Candida albicans is the most common cause of invasive fungal infections in humans. Its ability to undergo the morphological transition from yeast to hyphal growth forms is critical for its pathogenesis. Hyphal initiation requires the activation of the cAMP-PKA pathway, which down-regulates the expression of NRG1, the major repressor of hyphal development. Hyphal initiation also requires inoculation of a small amount of C. albicans cells from overnight culture to fresh medium. This inoculation releases the inhibition from farnesol, a quorum-sensing molecule of C. albicans, that accumulated in the spent medium. Here, we show that farnesol inhibits hyphal initiation mainly through blocking the protein degradation of Nrg1. Through screening a kinase mutant library, we identified Sok1 as the kinase required for Nrg1 degradation during inoculation. SOK1 expression is transiently activated on inoculation during hyphal initiation, and overexpression of SOK1 overcomes the farnesol-mediated inhibition of hyphal initiation. Screening a collection of transcription factor mutants, the homeodomain-containing transcription repressor Cup9 is found to be responsible for the repression of SOK1 expression in response to farnesol inhibition. Interestingly, farnesol inhibits Cup9 degradation mediated by the N-end rule E3 ubiquitin ligase, Ubr1. Therefore, hyphal initiation requires both the cAMP-PKA pathway-dependent transcriptional down-regulation of NRG1 and Sok1-mediated degradation of Nrg1 protein. The latter is triggered by the release from farnesol inhibition of Cup9 degradation and consequently, derepression of SOK1 transcription. Neither pathway alone is sufficient for hyphal initiation.

Candida albicans is an important human pathogen responsible for causing both superficial and systemic infections. Its ability to switch from the yeast form to the hyphal growth form is required for its pathogenicity. Acidic pH inhibits hyphal initiation, but the nature of the mechanism for this inhibition is not completely clear. We show that acidic pH represses hyphal initiation independently of the temperature- and farnesol-mediated Nrg1 downregulation. Using a collection of transcription factor deletion mutants, we observed that the sfl1 mutant induced hyphae in acidic pH but not in farnesol at 37°C. Furthermore, transcription of hyphal regulators BRG1 and UME6 was not induced in wild-type (WT) cells but was induced in the sfl1 mutant during hyphal induction in acidic pH. Using the same screening conditions with the collection of kinase mutants, we found that deletions of the core stress response mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase HOG1 and its kinase PBS2, the cell wall stress MAP kinase MKC1, and the calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase CMK1 allowed hyphal initiation in acidic pH. Furthermore, Hog1 phosphorylation induced by high osmotic stress also retarded hyphal initiation, and the effect was abolished in the sfl1 and three kinase mutants but was enhanced in the phosphatase mutant ptp2 ptp3. We also found functional associations among Cmk1, Hog1, and Sfl1 for cation stress. Our study results suggest that robust hyphal initiation requires downregulation of both Nrg1 and Sfl1 transcriptional repressors as well as timely BRG1 expression. Acidic pH and cationic stress retard hyphal initiation via the stress-responsive kinases and Sfl1. IMPORTANCE Candida albicans is a commensal as well as a pathogen of humans. C. albicans is able to mount a cellular response to a diverse range of external stimuli in the host and switch reversibly between the yeast and hyphal growth forms. Hyphal development is a key virulence determinant. Here, we studied how C. albicans senses different environmental signals to control its growth forms. Our study results suggest that robust hyphal development requires downregulation of two transcriptional repressors, Nrg1 and Sfl1. Acidic pH or cationic stress inhibits hyphal formation via stress-responsive kinases and Sfl1.