Identification of a Mating Type-Like Locus in the Asexual Pathogenic Yeast Candida albicans

Abstract

Candida albicans , the most prevalent fungal pathogen in humans, is thought to lack a sexual cycle. A set of C. albicans genes has been identified that corresponds to the master sexual cycle regulators a1, α1, and α2 of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating-type ( MAT ) locus. The C. albicans genes are arranged in a way that suggests that these genes are part of a mating type–like locus that is similar to the mating-type loci of other fungi. In addition to the transcriptional regulators a1, α1, and α2, the C. albicans mating type–like locus contains several genes not seen in other fungal MAT loci, including those encoding proteins similar to poly(A) polymerases, oxysterol binding proteins, and phosphatidylinositol kinases.