Tzung K W, Williams R M, Scherer S, Federspiel N, Jones T, Hansen N, Bivolarevic V, Huizar L, Komp C, Surzycki R, Tamse R, Davis R W, Agabian N
Graduate Program in Oral Biology, Department of Stomatology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0422, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Mar 13;98(6):3249-53. doi: 10.1073/pnas.061628798.
Candida albicans is a diploid fungus that has become a medically important opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised individuals. We have sequenced the C. albicans genome to 10.4-fold coverage and performed a comparative genomic analysis between C. albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the objective of assessing whether Candida possesses a genetic repertoire that could support a complete sexual cycle. Analyzing over 500 genes important for sexual differentiation in S. cerevisiae, we find many homologues of genes that are implicated in the initiation of meiosis, chromosome recombination, and the formation of synaptonemal complexes. However, others are striking in their absence. C. albicans seems to have homologues of all of the elements of a functional pheromone response pathway involved in mating in S. cerevisiae but lacks many homologues of S. cerevisiae genes for meiosis. Other meiotic gene homologues in organisms ranging from filamentous fungi to Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans were also found in the C. albicans genome, suggesting potential alternative mechanisms of genetic exchange.
白色念珠菌是一种二倍体真菌，已成为免疫功能低下个体中具有重要医学意义的机会性病原体。我们已将白色念珠菌基因组测序至10.4倍覆盖率，并对白色念珠菌和酿酒酵母进行了比较基因组分析，目的是评估念珠菌是否拥有能够支持完整有性生殖周期的基因库。通过分析酿酒酵母中500多个对性别分化很重要的基因，我们发现了许多与减数分裂起始、染色体重组以及联会复合体形成相关的基因同源物。然而，其他一些基因却明显缺失。白色念珠菌似乎拥有酿酒酵母中参与交配的功能性信息素反应途径所有元件的同源物，但缺乏酿酒酵母减数分裂基因的许多同源物。在白色念珠菌基因组中还发现了从丝状真菌到黑腹果蝇和秀丽隐杆线虫等生物中的其他减数分裂基因同源物，这表明存在潜在的基因交换替代机制。
