Fig. 6: C. albicans–C. freundii interactions increase hyphal induction and neutrophil death.
From: Priority effects dictate community structure and alter virulence of fungal-bacterial biofilms
Mono- and co-culture biofilms of C. albicans and C. freundii were grown in RPMI-1640 media for 24 h at 37 °C in chambered coverslips set on a 30° angle to expose the biofilm edge for imaging. C. albicans has increased hyphal biofilms when co-cultured with C. freundii. A C. albicans mono-culture biofilm presents a globular phenotype. B C. albicans and C. freundii co-culture biofilm develops long C. albicans hyphae. Black arrowheads point to examples of hyphae. Micrographs are representative of at least three independent experiments. C Human neutrophils were stained with calcein AM (green) and loaded onto chambered coverslips and allowed to interact with the biofilms for 4 h. Propidium iodide (false-colored magenta) was then added to stain extracellular DNA and cells with permeabilized membranes. Panel shows C. albicans mono-culture biofilm (D) C. freundii mono-culture biofilm (E) C. albicans and C. freundii co-culture biofilm. Micrographs are representative of two independent experiments. F Image quantification of red:green fluorescence ratio. A Kruskal-Wallis test followed by pairwise Mann–Whitney U tests with the Benjamini-Hochberg correction were used to compare between groups. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001.
