Genome diversity and dynamics in Candida albicans

Abstract

The fungal pathogen Candida albicans shows significant diversity at the genetic and phenotypic levels. In this Chapter, we review our current knowledge of the C. albicans diploid genome and its variability, the genetic structure of the C. albicans population and the mechanisms that are involved in C. albicans genome dynamics, with a focus on the parasexual cycle and loss-of-heterozygosity events. We further explore the impact of genetic diversity and genome dynamics on C. albicans phenotypic diversity. Finally, we discuss how our current knowledge of C. albicans genetic diversity could be leveraged in the future in order to get insights in the mechanisms underlying important biological attributes that are subject to variations across C. albicans isolates.