Sexual reproduction in the Candida clade: cryptic cycles, diverse mechanisms, and alternative functions |
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Authors: | Kevin Alby Richard J Bennett |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, 171 Meeting St, Providence, RI 02912, USA; |
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Abstract: | To have sex, or not to have sex, is a question posed by many microorganisms. In favor of a sexual lifestyle is the associated
rearrangement of genetic material that confers potential fitness advantages, including resistance to antimicrobial agents.
The asexual lifestyle also has benefits, as it preserves complex combinations of genes that may be optimal for pathogenesis.
For this reason, it was thought that several pathogenic fungi favored strictly asexual modes of reproduction. Recent approaches
using genome sequencing, population analysis, and experimental techniques have now revised this simplistic picture. It is
now apparent that many pathogenic fungi have retained the ability to undergo sexual reproduction, although reproduction is
primarily clonal in origin. In this review, we highlight the current understanding of sexual programs in the Candida clade of species. We also examine evidence that sexual-related processes can be used for functions in addition to mating
and recombination in these organisms. |
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