A CRISPR Interference Platform for Efficient Genetic Repression in <i>Candida albicans</i>

<jats:p> Fungal pathogens are an increasingly important cause of human disease and mortality, and <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">Candida albicans</jats:named-content> is among the most common causes of fungal disease. Studying this important fungal pathogen requires a comprehensive genetic toolkit to establish how different genetic factors play roles in the biology and virulence of this pathogen. Here, we developed a CRISPR-based genetic regulation platform to achieve targeted repression of <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">C. albicans</jats:named-content> genes. This CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) technology exploits a nuclease-dead Cas9 protein (dCas9) fused to transcriptional repressors. The dCas9 fusion proteins pair with a guide RNA to target genetic promoter regions and to repress expression from these genes. We demonstrated the functionality of this system for repression in <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">C. albicans</jats:named-content> and show that we can apply this technology to repress essential genes. Taking the results together, this work presents a new technology for efficient genetic repression in <jats:named-content content-type="genus-species">C. albicans</jats:named-content> , with important applications for genetic analysis in this fungal pathogen. </jats:p>