Researchers discover six new genome sequences and fundamental insights to the Ca

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Researchers discover six new genome sequences and fundamental insights to the

Candida fungus family

News-Medical.net - Sydney,Australia

25. May 2009 06:01

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2009/05/25/Researchers-discover-six-new-genome-\

sequences-and-fundamental-insights-to-the-Candida-fungus-family.aspx

An international research collaboration coordinated by UCD researchers and

involving scientists at 21 institutes including the genome sequencing centres in

the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK and the Broad Institute at MIT and

Harvard, USA have defined six new genome sequences in the Candida fungus family

and identified genetic differences in species that cause disease.

The research, published yesterday in Nature, describes how Candida strains have

evolved and ensured their survival by adapting their genetic makeup to respond

to changes in their environment. Candida species are the most common cause of

opportunistic fungal infection worldwide.

The incidence of Candida parapsilosis in particular poses the greatest threat to

transplant patients and premature babies as it forms a film that coats the

inside of medical devices such as implants, catheters or feeding tubes. The

fungus is drug resistant and the only effective treatment involves the removal

of the medical device. Prior to this work, very little was known about this

species.

The UCD research team led by Professor Geraldine from UCD Conway

Institute & School of Biomolecular & Biomedical Science looked at key components

of mating and cell division in Candida species, shedding new light on how the

fungi reproduce and survive.

Professor , scientific coordinator on this project, began working to

identify the sequence of genes of C. parapsilosis in 2003 through funding from

Science Foundation Ireland. She said, " We started by sequencing small parts of

the C. parapsilosis genome, which led to our collaboration with the Sanger

Institute to sequence the entire genome, and finally to combining this genome

with others sequenced by the Broad Institute "

Commenting on their findings, Professor says, " Candida species were

originally believed to be incapable of mating, and so may have difficulties in

adapting to new environments or new hosts. As a result of our analysis, we now

know a great deal more about the evolution of mating, and how some species

recombine their genes. Interestingly, C. parapsilosis is probably the only

species that cannot mate "

By comparing the genetic sequences in disease and non-disease causing fungi, the

team found that in general, the disease causing Candida species have many more

copies of genes involved in adhesion, and in the cell wall. The stickiness of

the proteins in the cell wall makes it easier for the fungi to adhere to the

human host. Further research on the regulation of these proteins may lead to

developing treatment methods for infections caused by fungi in the future.

http://www.ucd.ie/

Posted in: Medical Science News

Tags: Genetics, Genomics