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Staphylococcus-Candida Context-Dependent Biofilm Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000326
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment interkingdom laboratory biofilm
ENVO:01001405

A defined interkingdom biofilm composed of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Primary studies of this exact species composition report outcomes ranging from contact-dependent antagonism to hypha-supported colonization and copper-mediated mutualism, demonstrating strong dependence on strains, nutrients, surfaces, growth state, and colonization order.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Staphylococcus aureus NCBITaxon:1280
CROSS_FEEDER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:42629020 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus can coexist"
  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus along a nutritional axis of mutualism"
Candida albicans NCBITaxon:5476
CROSS_FEEDER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:42629020 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus can coexist"
  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "the fungus Candida albicans forms biofilms with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Staphylococcus-Candida Context-Dependent Biofilm Coculture Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and each ecological interaction is drawn as a distinct non-circular symbol, with colour repeating the same distinction (mutualism, competition, colonization facilitation).
Taxon
Mutualism
Competition
Colonization facilitation

Antagonistic Dual-Species Biofilm Suppression

COMPETITION

Evidence

  • PMID:42629020 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "there is an antagonistic effect between C. albicans and S. aureus"
  • PMID:42629020 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "significantly reduced biomass, cell counts, metabolic activity, and EPS content"

Contact-Dependent Strain-Specific Fungal Suppression

COMPETITION

Source Taxon: Staphylococcus aureus

Target Taxon: Candida albicans

Evidence

  • PMID:42413741 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "The majority of the 60 S. aureus strains tested suppressed fungal growth in a contact-dependent manner"
  • PMID:42413741 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "dual-species biofilms varied significantly in their bacterial-to-fungal cell ratios and in the composition of the biofilm-associated extracellular matrix"

Copper-Mediated Nutritional Mutualism

MUTUALISM

Evidence

  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "C. albicans increased copper uptake via transporter Ctr1, while S. aureus enhanced copper export via regulator CsoR and export chaperone CopZ"
  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "dual-species biofilms are consistently larger than single-species counterparts"

Candida Biofilm Scaffold Supports Staphylococcus Colonization

COLONIZATION_FACILITATION

Source Taxon: Candida albicans

Target Taxon: Staphylococcus aureus

Evidence

  • PMID:33831044 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "early C. albicans biofilms enhanced the numbers of E. coli and S. aureus"
  • PMID:33831044 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "contact with C. albicans was required for the increased bacterial cell numbers observed"
  • PMID:33831044 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "C. albicans provided a scaffold for initial bacterial adhesion"

Growth-State and Hyphal Context Dependence

MUTUALISM

Evidence

  • PMID:41324029 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "C. albicans dominated in planktonic co-culture, suppressing S. aureus growth, whereas biofilm conditions favored mutual adaptation"
  • PMID:41324029 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "hyphae-competent C. albicans forming dual-species biofilms with S. aureus that accumulated substantial biomass"

Staphylococcus-Induced Candida Virulence Response

COLONIZATION_FACILITATION

Source Taxon: Staphylococcus aureus

Target Taxon: Candida albicans

Evidence

  • PMID:34888261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Upregulated genes in dual-species biofilms corresponded to multiple gene ontology terms, including those attributed to virulence, biofilm formation and protein binding"
  • PMID:34888261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "S. aureus pushes C. albicans towards a more virulent genotype"

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Primary publication - antagonistic phenotypic and transcriptomic study
Exact-composition study reporting antagonistic dual-species biofilm outcomes. 		OTHER PMID:42629020
  • PMID:42629020 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "dual-species biofilms formed by Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans"
Primary publication - copper-driven mutualism
Exact-composition study of copper-mediated cooperation. 		OTHER PMID:42359480
  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Candida albicans forms biofilms with the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus"
Primary publication - clinical-strain biofilm dynamics
Exact-composition study of growth-state, hyphal, and colonization-order effects. 		OTHER PMID:41324029
  • PMID:41324029 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "interaction dynamics of S. aureus and C. albicans in both planktonic and biofilm states"
Primary publication - Candida transcriptome response
Exact-composition RNA-seq study of C. albicans responses to S. aureus. 		OTHER PMID:34888261
  • PMID:34888261 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "effects that S. aureus elicits on the C. albicans transcriptome"
Primary publication - Candida scaffold and antifungal intervention
Exact-composition study of Candida-supported S. aureus biofilms and antifungal perturbation. 		OTHER PMID:33831044
  • PMID:33831044 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Dual-species biofilm formation between C. albicans and three respiratory pathogens commonly associated with VAP (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) was studied using quantitative PCR."
Primary publication - S. aureus strain heterogeneity
Exact-composition study of 60 S. aureus strains paired with C. albicans. 		OTHER PMID:42413741
  • PMID:42413741 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "how S. aureus strain heterogeneity influences C. albicans within dual-species biofilms"

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Surface-associated biofilm growth plastic and other biotic or abiotic surfaces N/A
  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Using in vitro biofilms formed on plastic"
  • PMID:42413741 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "across different nutrient conditions and surface types"
Copper availability depletion and supplementation N/A
  • PMID:42359480 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "specific sensitivity to both copper depletion and supplementation, with corresponding reductions in biomass"
Growth state planktonic versus biofilm N/A
  • PMID:41324029 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "C. albicans dominated in planktonic co-culture, suppressing S. aureus growth, whereas biofilm conditions favored mutual adaptation"

Growth Media

Context-dependent dual-species biofilm media

Preparation notes: Multiple exact-composition studies used distinct nutrient conditions. One study specifically compared yeast growth in YPD with hyphal induction by RPMI substrates; complete formulations are not curated from the abstracts.

Evidence

PMID:41324029

"Compared to yeast cells in YPD, hyphal growth induced by RPMI substrates significantly augmented biofilm formation"