About Candida albicans SC5314 (GCA_000784635)

Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast It is one of the few species of the genus Candida that causes the human infection candidiasis, which results from an overgrowth of the fungus. Candidiasis is for example often observed in HIV-infected patients. C. albicans is the most common fungal species isolated from biofilms either formed on (permanent) implanted medical devices or on human tissue. A mortality rate of 40% has been reported for patients with systemic candidiasis due to C. albicans. By one estimate, invasive candidiasis contracted in a hospital causes 2800 to 11200 deaths yearly in the US.

C. albicans is commonly used as a model organism for biology. It is generally referred to as a dimorphic fungus since it grows both as yeast and filamentous cells. However it has several different morphological phenotypes. C. albicans was for a long time considered an obligate diploid organism without a haploid stage. This is however not the case. Next to a haploid stage C. albicans can also exist in a tetraploid stage. The latter is formed when diploid C. albicans cells mate when they are in the opaque form. The diploid genome size is approximately 29 Mb, and up to 70% of the protein coding genes have not yet been characterized. C. albicans is easily cultured in the lab and can be studied both in vivo and in vitro. Depending on the media different studies can be done as the media influences the morphological state of C. albicans. A special type of medium is CHROMagar™ Candida which can be used to identify different species of candida.

(Text from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.)

Taxonomy ID 237561

Data source Broad Institute

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