Birds Do It, Bees Do It, but Candida Albicans Does It Differently
Birds Do It, Bees Do It, but Candida albicans Does It Differently Richard Robinson | doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060121 The yeast Candida albicans lives an suggesting that many chromosomes do unnoticed and mostly harmless life as not harbor lethal recessive alleles, as a member of our gut flora. However, has been proposed for C. albicans. mainly in an immunocompromised Unexpectedly, the authors also host, it can proliferate and cause found evidence that, in some severe, life-threatening infections. strains, the remaining chromosomes Within this normally mild-mannered, had undergone homologous single-celled fungus beats the heart of recombination, one of the hallmarks a reproductive adventurer. For while of meiosis. C. albicans is known to it appears to be incapable of meiosis have genes that, in other organisms, and therefore true sex, it engages in an function specifically in meiosis, but no unusual and offbeat alternative—after role for them in C. albicans has been doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060121.g001 it mates, its progeny randomly cast off previously identified. The authors chromosomes to restore the diploid Configuration of the eight chromosomes showed that one such protein, Spo11p, number, or something close to it. In of Candida albicans in a recombinant strain which in other species cleaves double- a new study, Anja Forche, Richard derived from the parasexual mating cycle. stranded DNA as a prelude to meiotic Bennett, and colleagues show that this recombination, was expressed in process generates significant genetic been discovered, and its details and mitotically growing C. albicans. When diversity, which is further amplified by genetic consequences have not been the researchers deleted the gene, recombination between homologous well characterized.
[Show full text]