Is Candida auris sexual?

Alexander Lorenz* (Corresponding Author), Zoe K Ross

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
5 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Sexual reproduction and related processes play a somewhat limited but important role in generating genetic diversity in Candida species and other fungal pathogens. These processes are also thought to be an important contributor to the evolution of pathogenicity and drug resistance. Candida auris is a recently emerged, human-pathogenic yeast causing nosocomial outbreaks all over the globe. It can cause serious blood stream infections with the complication that isolates are typically resistant to the available antifungal therapies; mortality rates are approximately 60%. Genetic diversity is likely a major driver of its pathogenesis and virulence features. Here, we discuss which mechanisms could be behind the genetic diversity observed between C. auris isolates. Specifically, our review examines the evidence around sexual reproduction in this fungus.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1009094
Number of pages6
JournalPLoS Pathogens
Volume16
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Dec 2020

Bibliographical note

We are grateful to Dr Gustavo Bravo Ruiz and Dr Delma Childers for critically reading the manuscript.
Funding: We acknowledge funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter [grant number MR/P501955/1] (https://mrc.ukri.org/, https://www.exeter.ac.uk/medicalmycology/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Keywords

  • candida auris
  • sexual reproduction
  • mating type locus
  • meiosis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Is Candida auris sexual?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this