Transformation of Candida albicans by electroporation

In contrast to a variety of other yeasts, Candida albicans has proved diffi cult to transform with high efficiency. Lithium acetate transformation is f ast and simple but provides a very low efficiency of DNA transfer (50-100 t ransformants/mu g DNA), while spheroplast transformation, although more eff icient (similar to 300 transformants/mu g integrative DNA and 10(3)-10(4) t ransformants/mu g replicative DNA), is complicated and time-consuming. In t his study we applied various yeast transformation techniques to C. albicans and selected an electroporation procedure for further optimization. Transf ormation efficiencies of up to 300 transformants/mu g were obtained for an integrative plasmid and up to 4500 transformants/mu g for a CARS-carrying p lasmid. This reasonably high transformation efficiency, combined with the e ase and speed of electroporation in comparison to alternative techniques, m ake it the preferred method for transformation of C. albicans. Copyright (C ) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.