Characterisation of mitochondrial haplotypes occurred in a Candida albicans population.

The genetic background of mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in Candida albicans was studied by physical and functional mapping of four haplotypes identified recently in a hospital-population. The restriction patterns revealed considerable differences; however, the size of the mitochondrial DNA did not vary significantly. Sequence data demonstrated that size differences arose by short deletions, while restriction fragment length polymorphisms are caused by nucleotide substitutions in single sites.

Characterization of two different toxins of Wickerhamomyces anomalus (Pichia anomala) VKM Y-159.

Wickerhamomyces anomalus VKM Y-159 strain produces two types of toxin designated as WAKT a and WAKT b, encoded by chromosomal genes. The WAKT a toxin is heat-labile, pronase sensitive acting in pH range 3-4 affecting on several yeasts including pathogenic Candida species while the WAKT b toxin is protease- and thermo-resistant, acting in pH range 3-7 on two species, Candida alai and Candida norvegica. The rapid decrease of the number of viable cells after toxin treatment demonstrates that both toxins have cytocidic effect.

Evolution of linear chromosomes and multipartite genomes in yeast mitochondria.

Mitochondrial genome diversity in closely related species provides an excellent platform for investigation of chromosome architecture and its evolution by means of comparative genomics. In this study, we determined the complete mitochondrial DNA sequences of eight Candida species and analyzed their molecular architectures. Our survey revealed a puzzling variability of genome architecture, including circular- and linear-mapping and multipartite linear forms.

The mitochondrial genome of the pathogenic yeast Candida subhashii: GC-rich linear DNA with a protein covalently attached to the 5' termini.

As a part of our initiative aimed at a large-scale comparative analysis of fungal mitochondrial genomes, we determined the complete DNA sequence of the mitochondrial genome of the yeast Candida subhashii and found that it exhibits a number of peculiar features. First, the mitochondrial genome is represented by linear dsDNA molecules of uniform length (29 795 bp), with an unusually high content of guanine and cytosine residues (52.7 %).

Genetic variability of Candida albicans isolates in a university hospital in Hungary.

The occurrence and genetic variability of Candida albicans isolates in a Hungarian hospital were examined. Among the 103 Candida isolates, 44 (42.7%) proved to be C.