Figure 6.

Both Tpk1 and Tpk2 are both required for full virulence. (A) Survival curves of mice infected with the indicated C. tropicalis strains. Cells were grown overnight in YPD medium (except tpk1/tpk1 tpk2/tpk2 mutant, which was grown for two days), washed three times with PBS buffer (pH 7.4), resuspended in PBS buffer, and diluted to a concentration equal to 2.5 × 10⁷ CFU/mL. Mice were inoculated with with 5 × 10⁶ C. tropicalis cells in 200 µL and were monitored for 33 days. Ten mice per strain were used, except for the wild-type strain for which nine were used because one mouse died during the infection process. (B) The fungal burden in the kidneys and brains was measured on day 3 post-C. tropicalis infection in five mice per strain.