Farnesol, a morphogenetic autoregulatory substance in the dimorphic fungus Candida albicans, inhibits hyphae growth through suppression of a mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade.

Candida albicans grew in hyphal form in RPMI1640, however, addition of farnesol inhibited the formation. Farnesol did not affect the expression of mRNAs related to cAMP-EFG1 pathways. The mRNAs (HST7 and CPH1) in mitogen activated protein kinase (MAP) cascades were decreased in farnesol-treated cells, but CST20 was not. Furthermore, expression of general amino acid permease 1 (GAP1) was decreased by farnesol. We concluded that farnesol inhibits a MAP kinase cascades, and the suppression is a cause of interruption of hyphae formation.