{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T23:47:05Z","timestamp":1790725625388,"version":"4.1.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,19]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":58,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,19]],"date-time":"2025-05-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747612800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,19]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  <jats:italic>Candida auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  is an opportunistic, multidrug-resistant yeast with high capacity of skin colonization in healthcare settings, which can lead to subsequent infections with high mortality rates. Given the recent emergence of at least four distinct clades at the global scale, little remains known about how\n                  <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  is so adept at growing on skin and the key genes and pathways it utilizes to metabolize the scarce nutrients available. Here, we identify the roles that conventional and alternative carbon metabolism genes and metabolic pathways have in facilitating\n                  <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  growth through laboratory-based experiments and bioinformatics analyses. In artificial skin-like media, all four clades of\n                  <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  were more capable of growing than\n                  <jats:italic>C. albicans<\/jats:italic>\n                  SC5314, a clinically relevant counterpart. By investigating the differential regulation of\n                  <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  when growing in skin-like media as compared to rich fungal media, we uncovered hundreds of genes in multiple metabolic pathways. To further test the mechanisms of these metabolic pathways, we deleted several non-essential gene candidates including\n                  <jats:italic>FOX2<\/jats:italic>\n                  (B9J08_002847),\n                  <jats:italic>CAT2<\/jats:italic>\n                  (B9J08_000010), and\n                  <jats:italic>ICL1<\/jats:italic>\n                  (B9J08_003374). The mutant strains all exhibited abrogated growth in skin-like media and demonstrated nutrient preferences that differed from the wild type. Thus, we propose a model of how\n                  <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  has the capacity to metabolize nutrients that are naturally available on skin by changing its metabolic profile. Targeting these metabolic pathways to mitigate\n                  <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                  growth on skin is a potential avenue to explore in controlling the spread of this emerging human fungal pathogen.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Candida auris<\/jats:italic>\n                    is an emerging fungal pathogen with skin as its primary site of colonization and subsequent transmission. Here, we show the importance of conventional and alternative carbon metabolism for\n                    <jats:italic>C. auris\u2019<\/jats:italic>\n                    ability to grow in artificial skin-like media. This knowledge provides a better understanding of\n                    <jats:italic>C. auris<\/jats:italic>\n                    metabolism and sheds light on genes and pathways that could be targeted to interfere with persistent skin colonization.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.05.18.654780","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,20]],"date-time":"2025-05-20T05:17:25Z","timestamp":1747718245000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["<i>Candida auris<\/i>\n                  Metabolism and Growth Preferences in Physiologically Relevant Skin-like Conditions"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2320-0497","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jonathan P.","family":"Nicklas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Clay","family":"Deming","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"ShihQueen","family":"Lee-Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6848-3465","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sean","family":"Conlan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zeyang","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ryan A.","family":"Blaustein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6860-348X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julia A.","family":"Segre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciw691"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1348-0421.2008.00083.x"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/22221751.2022.2125349"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0354023","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.03540-23","article-title":"Emergence of the novel sixth Candida auris Clade VI in Bangladesh","volume":"12","year":"2024","journal-title":"Microbiol Spectr"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S2666-5247(24)00101-0"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.00146-24"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2410.180649"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.20411\/pai.v4i2.291"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciab327"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/ajt.14121"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2024.1312929"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1097\/01.NURSE.0000995556.96229.86","article-title":"Candida auris: Emerging fungal pathogen in the US","volume":"54","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nursing"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-020-05543-0"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.14","unstructured":"CDC. 2019. 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Abraham , Megan L. Killian , J. Michelle Kahlenberg , Sunny Y. Wong , Teresa R. O\u2019Meara . 2025. Candida auris skin colonization is mediated by Als4112 and interactions with host extracellular matrix proteins, bioRxiv.","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.02.13.637978"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.adf8972"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.02748-24"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.04180-22"},{"key":"2025052209200846000_2025.05.18.654780v1.28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Scharschmidt TC , Fischbach MA . 2013. What Lives On Our Skin: Ecology, Genomics and Therapeutic Opportunities Of the Skin Microbiome. 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