MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY ON-LINE |
Rapid, temporary disappearance of Nrg1 transcriptional repressor leads to the yeast-to-hypha transition; Nrg1 is located at the promoters of hypha-specific genes and represses their expression during yeast growth. The ability to change forms is regarded as a pathogenic factor because hyphal forms favor tissue penetration, and are more difficult to phagocytose.