Microevolution in genomic short sequence repeats of Candida albicans in non-neutropenic patients.

The genome of the yeast Candida albicans harbours many genomic short sequence repeats (SSRs). These are stable upon transition of colonization to infection in immune-compromised patients. We show here that in non-neutropenic patients this transition may coincide with variation in several of the SSRs. This may have implications for stage-specific expression of C. albicans pathogenicity factors.