RNA-Seq dataset of Candida tropicalis under antifungal stress
Description
This dataset contains the raw and processed transcriptomic data used to characterize the global gene expression response of Candida tropicalis after exposure to iso-espintanol at its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC = 391.6 µg/mL). The experiment included untreated control cultures and treated cultures incubated for four hours, generating six RNA-seq libraries in total: five high-quality biological replicates for the control condition and one high-quality replicate for the iso-espintanol treatment. Although the experimental design initially considered three biological replicates per group, the treated yeast cells exhibited rapid loss of viability due to the fungicidal activity of ISO, resulting in severe cellular stress, membrane disruption, and RNA degradation. Consequently, only one treated sample met the RNA integrity and yield requirements (RIN ≥ 5.3; total RNA ≈ 0.5–1.5 µg). Rather than representing a limitation, this biological constraint highlights a key biological outcome of ISO exposure: the dataset captures a rare early-lethality transcriptional state associated with acute monoterpene-induced stress. This provides a valuable resource for investigating rapid antifungal responses, oxidative damage, and programmed cell death pathways in C. tropicalis, and supports future comparative analyses of antifungal mechanisms and resistance evolution. The dataset was generated to test the hypothesis that iso-espintanol triggers coordinated transcriptional reprogramming involving oxidative stress response, metabolic remodeling, membrane integrity disruption, and downregulation of biosynthetic pathways. Sequencing quality metrics (library size, mapping efficiency, and sample correlations) confirmed consistent mRNA capture and strong reproducibility across control replicates. Differential expression analysis was performed using EdgeR with TMM normalization and Benjamini–Hochberg FDR correction. The resulting transcriptional signatures include repression of RNA metabolic processes, biosynthetic and chromatin-related pathways, and KEGG enrichment in steroid biosynthesis and MAPK signaling. Together, these data enable researchers to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying iso-espintanol antifungal activity, evaluate pathway-level responses, and reproduce or extend all bioinformatic analyses described in Contreras-Martínez, O. I., Angulo-Ortíz, A., Santafé-Patiño, G., Aviña-Padilla, K., Velasco-Pareja, M. C., & Yasnot, M. F. (2023). Transcriptional Reprogramming of Candida tropicalis in Response to Isoespintanol Treatment. Journal of Fungi, 9(12), 1199. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9121199.