<i>C. elegans</i> as a tractable infection model for the emerging fungal pathogen <i>Candida auris</i>

<i>Candida auris</i> is a growing clinical problem. This fungal pathogen spread rapidly worldwide after its discovery in 2009. It avidly colonizes the skin and abiotic surfaces, and many strains are multidrug resistant, making them easy to spread in hospital settings and very difficult to treat. Though distantly related to <i>Candida albicans</i>, it is clear that <i>C. auris</i> possesses unique virulence mechanisms, making studies directly in this species imperative. However, existing animal models, including mouse and invertebrate species, have limitations in variability and throughput. We describe here a facile infection model using the nematode <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>, which has previously been used for other bacterial and fungal pathogens. We show that this model can identify virulence differences between strains and in mutants predicted to be less virulent. Moreover, this model is amenable to high-throughput screening. This will be a valuable tool in uncovering <i>C. auris</i>-specific virulence traits.