{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T19:07:23Z","timestamp":1789153643632,"version":"build-2803163510"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":40,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"NIH\/NIAID","award":["R01 AI146103"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01 AI146103"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Filamentation, a central virulence trait of the fungal pathogen\n                  <jats:italic>Candida albicans,<\/jats:italic>\n                  is required for host cell damage, tissue invasion, and biofilm formation. The transcription factor Bcr1 was first found to be required for biofilm formation but not filamentation. Subsequent studies revealed a negative role for Bcr1 in filamentation in opaque cells, a cell type that is required for mating, under hypoxic conditions, and in a\n                  <jats:italic>wor2<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 mutant background. Here we characterize a new context in which Bcr1 negatively regulates filamentation and present its associated gene expression impact. We compared the wild-type and\n                  <jats:italic>bcr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 mutant cells in the SC5314 reference strain background at 30\u00b0C in glucose media, conditions that do not induce filamentation. The\n                  <jats:italic>bcr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 mutant displayed increased invasive growth in a solid medium, and some filamentation ability in a liquid medium. The\n                  <jats:italic>bcr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 effect on filamentation was augmented by overexpression of hyphal cyclin gene\n                  <jats:italic>HGC1,<\/jats:italic>\n                  which caused pseudohyphal growth in wild-type,\n                  <jats:italic>efg1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394, or\n                  <jats:italic>brg1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 strains, yet caused hyphal growth in the\n                  <jats:italic>bcr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 strain. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of 30\u00b0C cells shows that the\n                  <jats:italic>bcr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 mutant has elevated expression of two genes that drive filamentation:\n                  <jats:italic>HGC1<\/jats:italic>\n                  and\n                  <jats:italic>UME6.<\/jats:italic>\n                  In published data these same two genes have decreased expression in the\n                  <jats:italic>bcr1<\/jats:italic>\n                  \u0394\/\u0394 mutant at 37\u00b0C, the temperature at which biofilm formation is typically assayed. A growing cadre of biofilm\/hyphal regulators can have both positive and negative effects on hypha-associated gene expression, including Bcr1, Efg1, Ndt80, and Nrg1.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Production of filamentous cells is a central virulence trait of the fungal pathogen\n                    <jats:italic>Candida albicans<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Evidence here shows that the transcription factor Bcr1 is a negative regulator of filamentation at low temperature (30\u00b0C). Bcr1 affects expression of two drivers of filamentation, the genes\n                    <jats:italic>HGC1<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>UME6.<\/jats:italic>\n                    Surprisingly, Bcr1 inhibits their expression at 30\u00b0C but stimulates their expression at 37\u00b0C. A growing number of filamentation regulators seem to function as both positive and negative regulators of filamentation, depending upon genetic and environmental contexts.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.09.03.749130","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T05:10:28Z","timestamp":1788844228000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A negative role for master regulator Bcr1 in\n                  <i>Candida albicans<\/i>\n                  hypha-associated gene expression"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Anupam","family":"Sharma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0868-4000","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aaron P.","family":"Mitchell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026091111202380000_2026.09.03.749130v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro2636"},{"key":"2026091111202380000_2026.09.03.749130v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rosowski EE , Knox BP , Archambault LS , Huttenlocher A , Keller NP , Wheeler RT , Davis JM. 2018. 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