This articleis missing information about list of teleomorph genera e.g.Kluyveromyces; considerPMID26526658 &PMID33028600. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(February 2022)
Thegenome of severalCandida species has been sequenced.[8]
Antibiotics promote yeast (fungal) infections, including gastrointestinal (GI)Candida overgrowth and penetration of theGI mucosa.[9] While women are more susceptible to genital yeast infections, men can also be infected. Certain factors, such as prolonged antibiotic use, increase the risk for both men and women. People withdiabetes or the immunocompromised, such as those infected withHIV, are more susceptible to yeast infections.[10][11]
When grown in alaboratory,Candida appears as large, round, white or cream (albicans means "whitish" inLatin) colonies, which emit a yeasty odor onagar plates at room temperature.[13]C. albicans fermentsglucose andmaltose to acid and gas,sucrose to acid, and does not fermentlactose, which helps to distinguish it from otherCandida species.[14]
Recent molecularphylogenetic studies show that the genusCandida, as currently defined, is extremelypolyphyletic (encompassing distantly-related species that do not form a natural group).[15] Before the advent of inexpensive molecular methods,yeasts that were isolated from infected patients were often calledCandida without clear evidence of relationship to otherCandida species. For example,Candida glabrata,Candida guilliermondii, andCandida lusitaniae are clearly misclassified[15] and will be placed in othergenera once phylogenetic reorganization is complete (for example, see Khunnamwonget al. 2015).[16]
Some species ofCandida use a non-standardgenetic code in thetranslation of theirnuclear genes into theamino acid sequences ofpolypeptides.[17] The difference in the genetic code between species possessing this alternative code is that thecodon CUG (normally encoding the amino acidleucine) is translated by the yeast as a different amino acid,serine. The alternative translation of the CUG codon in these species is due to a novel nucleic acid sequence in the serine-tRNA (ser-tRNACAG), which has aguanosine located at position 33, 5' to theanticodon. In all other tRNAs, this position is normally occupied by apyrimidine (oftenuridine). This genetic code change is the only such known alteration in cytoplasmicmRNA, in both theprokaryotes, and theeukaryotes, involving the reassignment of asense codon.[18] This novel genetic code may be a mechanism for more rapid adaptation to the organism's environment, as well as playing an important role in theevolution of the genusCandida by creatinggenetic barriers that encouragedspeciation.[18]
Candida are almost universal in low numbers on healthy adultskin[14] andC. albicans is part of the normal flora of the mucous membranes of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and female genital tracts. The dryness of skin compared to other tissues prevents the growth of the fungus, but damaged skin or skin inintertriginous regions is more amenable to rapid growth.[19] A severe consequence of candida infection can beesophageal cancer, overgrowth with candida in theesophagus is the most important risk factor for developing esophageal cancer in patients withachalasia.[20]
Overgrowth of several species, includingC. albicans, can cause infections ranging from superficial, such asoropharyngeal candidiasis (thrush) orvulvovaginal candidiasis (vaginal candidiasis) and subpreputial candidiasis, which may causebalanitis, to systemic, such asfungemia andinvasive candidiasis. Oral candidiasis is common in elderlydenture-wearers.[21] In otherwise healthy individuals, these superficial infections can be cured with topical or systemicantifungal medications[22] (commonly over-the-counter antifungal treatments likemiconazole orclotrimazole). In debilitated or immunocompromised patients, or if introduced intravenously (into thebloodstream), candidiasis may become a systemic disease producingabscesses,thrombophlebitis,endocarditis, or infections of the eyes or other organs.[8][14] Typically, relatively severeneutropenia (lowneutrophils) is a prerequisite forCandida to pass through the defenses of the skin and cause disease in deeper tissues; in such cases, mechanical disruption of the infected skin sites is typically a factor in the fungal invasion of the deeper tissues.[19] The most common way to treat invasive candida infections is with the use ofamphotericin orfluconazole; other methods would include surgery.[23]
C. albicans has been used in combination withcarbon nanotubes (CNT) to produce stable electrically conductive bio-nano-composite tissue materials that have been used as temperature-sensing elements.[24]
AmongCandida species,C. albicans, which is a normal constituent of thehuman flora, a commensal of the skin and the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts, is responsible for the majority ofCandida bloodstream infections (candidemia).[25] Yet, there is an increasing incidence of infections caused byC. glabrata andC. rugosa, which could be because they are frequently less susceptible to the currently usedazole-group of antifungals.[26] Other medically important species includeC. parapsilosis,C. tropicalis, andC. dubliniensis.
The dictionary definition ofCandida at Wiktionary
