Negative controls (water as template) were included in each run. After amplification, a melting curve was analyzed to confirm the specificity of the primers. Expression of each investigated gene was normalized to the housekeeping ACT1 gene and analyzed using comparative Ct method (ΔΔCt). Expression of ALS1, ALS3, ECE1, HWP1, and BCR1 genes from cells grown under serum-treatment condition was indicated as relative expression to that of genes from untreated yeast cells. Each experimental condition was performed in duplicate and each experiment was repeated twice on two different days for reproducibility. Table 1 Primers used for RT-PCR experiments Dactolisib nmr Primer Sequence Tm (°C) ALS1-F 5’-CCTATCTGACTAAGACTGCACC-3’

57.69 ALS1-R 5’-ACAGTTGGATTTGGCAGTGGA-3’ 60.13 ALS3-F 5’-ACCTGACTAAAACTGCACCAA-3’ 57.71 ALS3-R 5’-GCAGTGGAACTTGCACAACG-3’ 60.59 HWP1-F 5’-CTCCAGCCACTGAAACACCA-3’ 60.18 HWP1-R 5’-GGTGGAATGGAAGCTTCTGGA-3’ 60.00 ECE1-F 5’-CCCTCAACTTGCTCCTTCACC-3’ 59.96

ECE1-R 5’-GATCACTTGTGGGATGTTGGTAA-3’ 59.82 Bcr1-F 5’-GCATTGGTAGTGTGGGAAGTTTGAT-3’ 57.64 Bcr1-R 5’-AGAGGCAGAATCACCCACTGTTGTA-3’ 59.96 ACT1-F 5’-CGTTGTTCCAATTTACGCTGGT-3’ 60.03 ACT1-R 5’-TGTTCGAAATCCAAAGCAACG-3’ 58.01 Statistical analysis Data were described as mean ± SD. All statistical analyses were performed by statistical analysis computer software package SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc., IL, USA). Student’s Entospletinib price t-test or one-way ANOVA were used to compare the biofilm formation,

planktonic growth, and the gene expression of C. albicans strains in the presence or absence of HS. Results with a p-value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Acknowledgements This study was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 30972819]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, Rho decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Electronic supplementary material Additional file 1: C. albicans ATCC90028 was incubated in polypropylene microtiter plates at 37°C in the absence or presence of HS (50%) and the plates were placed on Live Cell Movie Analyzer. The instrument was set to continuous photographing mode with exposure 5%, brightness 13%, zoom level 4, interval 1 min, and total time 2 h (the experimental group was prolonged to 3 h). Movie 1 Video of C. albicans biofilm grown in the RPMI 1640 without HS during the first 2 h (0–120 min). Movie 2 Video of C. albicans biofilm grown in the RPMI 1640 with HS during the first 2 h (0–120 min). Movie 3 Video of C. albicans biofilm grown in the RPMI 1640 with HS in 120–180 min. (ZIP 46 MB) Additional file 2: Light microscopy images of C. albicans ATCC90028 biofilms in RPMI and RPMI + HS media. The different panels show photomicrographs taken at various time points during germ tube formulation, as indicated. (DOC 5 MB) References 1.