The Lack of SNARE Protein Homolog Syn8 Influences Biofilm Formation of .

Biofilm formation of species is considered to be a pathogenic factor of host infection. Since biofilm formation of has not been as well studied as that of , we performed genetic screening of , and three candidate genes associated with biofilm formation were identified. (CAGL0H06325g) was selected as the most induced gene in biofilm cells for further research. Our results indicated that the Δ mutant was defective not only in biofilm metabolic activity but also in biofilm morphological structure and biomass. Deletion of seemed to have no effect on extracellular matrix production, but it led to a notable decrease in adhesion ability during biofilm formation, which may be linked to the repression of two adhesin genes, and . Furthermore, hypersensitivity to hygromycin B and various ions in addition to the abnormal vacuolar morphology in the Δ mutant suggested that active vacuolar function is required for biofilm formation of . These findings enhance our understanding of biofilm formation in this fungus and provide information for the development of future clinical treatments.