Recent Developments in Molecular Genetics of Candida Albicans

Abstract

The frequency of opportunistic infections caused by the fungus Candida albicans is very high and is expected to continue to increase as the number of immunocompromised patients rises. Research initiatives to study the biology of this organism and elucidate its pathogenic determinants have therefore expanded significantly during the last 5-10 years. The past few years have also brought continuous improvement in the techniques to study gene function by gene inactivation and by regulated gene expression and to study gene expression and protein localization by using gene reporter systems. As steadily more genomic sequence information from this human fungal pathogen becomes available, we are entering a new era in antimicrobial research. However, many of the currently available molecular genetics tools are poorly adapted to a genome-wide functional analysis in C. albicans, and further development of these tools is hampered by the asexual and diploid nature of this organism. This review outlines recent advances in the development of molecular tools for functional analysis in C. albicans and summarizes current knowledge about the genomic and genetic variability of this important human fungal pathogen.

Cassettes for PCR‐mediated construction of green, yellow, and cyan fluorescent protein fusions in Candida albicans

“…Virulence factors include adhesion to epithelial and endothelial cells, production of extracellular proteinases, and the ability to switch between yeast-form and filamentous morphologies (Odds, 1994). The study of the molecular mechanisms of these processes has been hindered by the fact that C. albicans reads the CUG codon as serine rather than leucine, rendering heterologous gene expression largely unsuccessful (De Backer et al, 2000).…”

The Sho1 Adaptor Protein Links Oxidative Stress to Morphogenesis and Cell Wall Biosynthesis in the Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans

“…Candida albicans is the most prevalent cause of fungal infections, mainly because of its commensal role in the intestinal and vaginal tracts; it is, therefore, a well-established model of a fungal pathogen for which different genetic tools have been recently developed (19,57). In this organism, some elements of the HOG pathway have been recently identified.…”

Divergence in Fitness and Evolution of Drug Resistance in Experimental Populations of Candida albicans

“…Correlations between resistance to fungicides and fitness traits such as latency, sporulation, and survival of plant-pathogenic fungi have provided mixed results: that there is no cost of resistance (34), that there is a cost for survival of resistant propagules but not somatic cells (35); and that there is a cost not correlated with any specific trait (15,18). The evolutionary dynamics of drug resistance and its fitness costs have been studied in viruses (8,31) and bacteria (2,6,7,25,38) but not in a comparable way in fungi, despite their increasing importance as opportunistic pathogens of humans (1,14,17). Experimental populations of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans from a previous study (12) provided the opportunity here to measure relative fitness by comparing the reproductive rates of populations that had evolved resistance to the antifungal drug fluconazole with that of their drug-sensitive ancestor in a common environment with, and without, fluconazole.…”