Fig. 4: Aneuploid strains are susceptible to ROS via redox imbalance.

a Logarithmic phase C. albicans cells were stained with 476 μM H₂DCF-DA for 30 minutes and imaged by differential interference contrast (DIC) and fluorescence microscopy. Scale bar = 5 µm. b Quantification of H₂DCF-DA fluorescence is plotted as the mean and interquartile ranges (IQR) with whiskers extending to 1.5 × IQR. Data points extending beyond 1.5 × IQR are plotted individually. N = 3. Significance was determined by Student’s t-test relative to the diploid control without multiple comparison correction, and all data are plotted as the mean and interquartile ranges. c Schematic representing the origin of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from either exogenous or endogenous sources. d Strains were struck heavily onto high glucose pre-sporulation medium for 4 days and allowed to grow at 37 °C. Cells were suspended in a 1:3000 dilution of propidium iodide (PI) and the fraction of PI positive cells determined by flow cytometry of 50,000 events. Significance was determined by the Wilcoxon test, and data was plotted as the mean with the error bars indicating the standard deviation. N = 9. e A polynomial curve was fit to the growth curve over 36 hours. Exogenous ROS sensitivity was determined by comparing the time taken to reach 0.4 OD₆₀₀ between cultures grown in 0 mM and 2.5 mM H₂O₂, and (f) plotted for the indicated strains. Significance was determined by Wilcoxon test, and data plotted as the mean with error bars indicating the standard deviation. N = 4. g Cells from the diploid and ten aneuploid strains were incubated for 30 minutes in liquid YPD supplemented with 0, 40, or 80 mM H₂O₂. Ten-fold dilutions were spotted as 5 μL onto YPD solid agar medium and imaged after 24 hours. h Significance was determined by Wilcoxon test of the 40 mM:0 mM H₂O₂ second spot dilution pixel intensity between aneuploid strains and the diploid control. N = 3 except for diploid where N = 6. Data is plotted with the mean and error bars that indicate the standard deviation. Aneuploid strains are shown in blue and the diploid and tetraploid controls in dark and light grey, respectively. * denotes p <  0.05. ** denotes p < 0.01. *** denotes p < 0.001.