Antibiofilm and Antihyphal Activities of Cedar Leaf Essential Oil, Camphor, and Fenchone Derivatives against .

can form biofilms composed of yeast, hyphal, and pseudohyphal elements, and cells in the hyphal stage could be a virulence factor. The present study describes the chemical composition, antibiofilm, and antihyphal activities of cedar leaf essential oil (CLEO), which was found to possess remarkable antibiofilm activity against but not to affect its planktonic cell growth. Nineteen components were identified in CLEO by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and phenolics were the main constituents. Of these, camphor, fenchone, fenchyl alcohol, α-thujone, and borneol significantly reduced biofilm formation. Notably, treatments with CLEO, camphor, or fenchyl alcohol at 0.01% clearly inhibited hyphal formation, and this inhibition appeared to be largely responsible for their antibiofilm effects. Transcriptomic analyses indicated that camphor and fenchyl alcohol downregulated some hypha-specific and biofilm related genes (, and ). Furthermore, camphor and fenchyl alcohol reduced virulence in a nematode model. These results demonstrate CLEO, camphor, and fenchyl alcohol might be useful for controlling infections.