Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of IFD6 on biofilmforming ability of C. albicans. Methods We constructed an IFD6overexpressing plasmid and inserted IFD6 intact open reading frame(ORF) under the control of the MET3 promoter in pCaEXP plasmid, which was then used to transform C. albicans CAI4 by lithium acetate method. PCR was used to investigate the in situ integration of IFD6 gene and realtime PCR was used to select strains highly expressing IFD6 gene. XTT assay and confocal scanning laser microscopy were used to investigate the changes of biofilmforming ability before and after IFD6 overexpression. We also investigated the changes of cell surface hydrophobicity(CSH) using relative CSH assay. Results We successfully constructed IFD6overexpressing plasmid as confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion and sequencing; IFD6overexpressing strain was successfully established as confirmed by PCR. Realtime PCR successfully selected a strain highly expressing IFD6 gene. The results of XTT assay and confocal scanning laser microscopy both showed that IFD6overexpressing strain had an enhanced biofilm forming ability and an increased cell surface hydrophobicity. Conclusion Overexpression of IFD6 can enhance the biofilm forming ability of C. albicans by increasing CSH.