Pathogenesis and virulence of .

is a commensal yeast fungus of the human oral, gastrointestinal, and genital mucosal surfaces, and skin. Antibiotic-induced dysbiosis, iatrogenic immunosuppression, and/or medical interventions that impair the integrity of the mucocutaneous barrier and/or perturb protective host defense mechanisms enable to become an opportunistic pathogen and cause debilitating mucocutaneous disease and/or life-threatening systemic infections. In this review, we synthesize our current knowledge of the tissue-specific determinants of pathogenicity and host immune defense mechanisms.