Figure 2.

S. oralis increases EFG1 gene expression of C. albicans in organotypic tissue and mouse oral mucosal infection models. (A) Organotypic tissues were infected with C. albicans SC5314 with or without S. oralis 34, for 16h. Candida gene mRNA levels were analyzed by RT-qPCR. Results represent fold increase in gene expression over the single infection group. Means ± SD are shown from twice repeated experiments, with tissue infections set up in duplicate. EFG1 was the only gene that was significantly upregulated by S. oralis. *p<0.05 for a comparison to all other regulators. (B) Mice were infected with C. albicans or C. albicans plus S. oralis 34 for 4 d and Candida gene mRNA levels in tongue samples were analyzed by RT-qPCR. Results represent fold increase gene expression over the single infection group, with 6–7 mice per group. In most mice infected with both organisms, EFG1 transcripts were higher compared with single infection, although variability in the magnitude of this response was noted.