Dataset Information

Utilization of Hybrid Assembly Approach to Determine the Genome of an Opportunistic Pathogenic Fungus, Candida albicans TIMM 1768.

ABSTRACT: Candida albicans TIMM1768 is a highly virulent strain utilized as a model organism for the study of gastrointestinal and oral candidiasis. Despite being a model strain, identification of its genetic determinants of pathogenesis is hindered by the unavailability of its genome sequence. In this study, we determined the genome sequence of C. albicans TIMM1768 using reads obtained from portable MinION and benchtop Ion PGM sequencers. Genome annotation and a comparative analysis with published genomes revealed that the TIMM1768 strain was close to Candida albicans CHN1, and we identified a significant number of genes encoding for pathogenesis. The availability of the C. albicans TIMM1768 genome will facilitate comparative genomic analysis of Candida species, including studies of its virulence mechanisms and the development of treatment strategies for severe candidiasis.

SUBMITTER: Panthee S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6097704 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Utilization of Hybrid Assembly Approach to Determine the Genome of an Opportunistic Pathogenic Fungus, Candida albicans TIMM 1768.

Panthee Suresh S Hamamoto Hiroshi H Ishijima Sanae A SA Paudel Atmika A Sekimizu Kazuhisa K

Genome biology and evolution 20180801 8

Candida albicans TIMM1768 is a highly virulent strain utilized as a model organism for the study of gastrointestinal and oral candidiasis. Despite being a model strain, identification of its genetic determinants of pathogenesis is hindered by the unavailability of its genome sequence. In this study, we determined the genome sequence of C. albicans TIMM1768 using reads obtained from portable MinION and benchtop Ion PGM sequencers. Genome annotation and a comparative analysis with published genome ...[more]

PMID: 30059981

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Opportunistic yeast pathogens of the genus Candida are an important medical problem. Candida albicans, the most prevalent Candida species, is a natural commensal of humans that can adopt a pathogenic behavior. This species is highly heterozygous and cannot undergo meiosis, adopting instead a parasexual cycle that increases genetic variability and potentially leads to advantages under stress conditions. However, the origin of C. albicans heterozygosity is unknown, and we hypothesize that it could result from ancestral hybridization. We tested this idea by analyzing available genomes of C. albicans isolates and comparing them to those of hybrid and non-hybrid strains of other Candida species. RESULTS:Our results show compelling evidence that C. albicans is an evolved hybrid. The genomic patterns observed in C. albicans are similar to those of other hybrids such as Candida orthopsilosis MCO456 and Candida inconspicua, suggesting that it also descends from a hybrid of two divergent lineages. Our analysis indicates that most of the divergence between haplotypes in C. albicans heterozygous blocks was already present in a putative heterozygous ancestor, with an estimated 2.8% divergence between homeologous chromosomes. The levels and patterns of ancestral heterozygosity found cannot be fully explained under the paradigm of vertical evolution and are not consistent with continuous gene flux arising from lineage-specific events of admixture. CONCLUSIONS:Although the inferred level of sequence divergence between the putative parental lineages (2.8%) is not clearly beyond current species boundaries in Saccharomycotina, we show here that all analyzed C. albicans strains derive from a single hybrid ancestor and diverged by extensive loss of heterozygosity. This finding has important implications for our understanding of C. albicans evolution, including the loss of the sexual cycle, the origin of the association with humans, and the evolution of virulence traits.

Dataset Information

Utilization of Hybrid Assembly Approach to Determine the Genome of an Opportunistic Pathogenic Fungus, Candida albicans TIMM 1768.

Publications

Utilization of Hybrid Assembly Approach to Determine the Genome of an Opportunistic Pathogenic Fungus, Candida albicans TIMM 1768.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets