Author Spotlight: Photodynamic Therapy as a Novel Approach to Induce Petite Colonies in Drug&#45;Resistant <i>Candida</i> for Antifungal Research

The research aims to use photodynamic therapy, also known as PDT, to fight against drug-resistant Candida infection. In this study, we are trying to answer how effectively PDT kills the fungi, and how the virulence of the fungi changes after the treatment. We found petite colonies from the after PDT.

Present methods for inducing petite colonies rely on ethidium bromide or fluconazole, which may work through different pathways on drug resistance and the stress responses, compared to PDT. Recently, petite colonies of Candida have become a significant concern in the clinic because they may resist medication and increase mortality rates. Photodynamic therapy has become one of the antifungal treatments and our finding helps breach the gap between traditional methods used to study petite colonies.

Our findings provide evidence that PDT can induce petite colonies in drug resistant Candida in-vitro, presenting a groundbreaking method to study petite colonies. We'll definitely delve deeper into this field. There are many questions to be answered.

How and why do petite colonies form after PDT stress? Do different Candida species respond differently? I believe it's a never ending story to be explored.