The human commensal yeast, Candida albicans, has an ancient origin.

Candida albicans, the primary causative agent of candidiasis, is a ubiquitous member of the human flora and is capable of causing severe invasive disease. Despite its importance as a human pathogen, little is known concerning those factors creating and maintaining genetic diversity within the species and how extant strains reflect their evolutionary history. Based on nucleotide polymorphism frequencies, we estimated the time to a most recent common ancestor for the species to be about 3-16 million years, with variation due to molecular clock calibration.

Evidence for aneuploidy and recombination in the human commensal yeast Candida parapsilosis.

Isolates of Candida parapsilosis, including representatives of the three major sub-species groups, were screened for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by sequencing five independent loci totaling 4kb per isolate. Group I isolates were highly conserved and in some cases, group I alleles were found in group II and III strains. Unique alleles were also associated with groups II and III, consistent with earlier observations of intergroup divergence.

Population structure of Candida albicans, a member of the human flora, as determined by microsatellite loci.

This study examines the macrogeographic population structure of Candida albicans, a yeast commensal of humans, through a population genetic analysis of 5 microsatellite loci in 13 cities. The populations were predominantly clonal with some recombination. About 5% of the genetic variation is between populations and the overall pattern is one of intermediate differentiation.

Stability of allelic frequencies and distributions of Candida albicans microsatellite loci from U.S. population-based surveillance isolates.

Allelic distributions and frequencies of five Candida albicans microsatellite loci have been determined for strains isolated from the bloodstream and obtained through active population-based surveillance in two U.S. metropolitan areas between 1998 and 2000.

Characterization of agglutinin-like sequence genes from non-albicans Candida and phylogenetic analysis of the ALS family.

The ALS (agglutinin-like sequence) gene family of Candida albicans encodes cell-surface glycoproteins implicated in adhesion of the organism to host surfaces. Southern blot analysis with ALS-specific probes suggested the presence of ALS gene families in C. dubliniensis and C.