Editing Candida albicans (section)

{{Short description|Species of fungus}}
{{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}}{{Speciesbox
| image = SEM of C albicans.tif
| image_caption = ''Candida albicans'' visualized using scanning electron microscopy. Note the abundant hyphal mass.
| genus = Candida
| species = albicans
| authority = ([[Charles-Philippe Robin|C.-P. Robin]]) [[Christine Marie Berkhout|Berkhout]] (1923)
| synonyms = *''Candida stellatoidea''<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=5476&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock Candida albicans at NCBI Taxonomy browser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215225924/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=5476&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock |date=2018-12-15 }}, url accessed 2006-12-26</ref>
* ''Monilia albicans''<ref name="The yeasts"/>
* ''Oidium albicans''<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Saygin D, Tabib T, Bittar HE, Valenzi E, Sembrat J, Chan SY, Rojas M, Lafyatis R | display-authors = 6 | title = Transcriptional profiling of lung cell populations in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension | journal = Pulmonary Circulation | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 137–164 | date = May 1952 | pmid = 32166015 | doi = 10.2307/2394509 | jstor = 2394509 | pmc = 7052475 }}</ref>
* and many others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=256187 |title=Synonymy of Candida albicans |website=speciesfungorum.org |access-date=8 December 2021 |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208173643/http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=256187 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

'''''Candida albicans''''' is an opportunistic [[pathogenic yeast]]<ref name="Gow2017">{{cite journal | vauthors = Gow NA, Yadav B | title = Microbe Profile: Candida albicans: a shape-changing, opportunistic pathogenic fungus of humans | journal = Microbiology | volume = 163 | issue = 8 | pages = 1145–1147 | date = August 2017 | pmid = 28809155 | doi = 10.1099/mic.0.000499 | doi-access = free | hdl = 2164/12360 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> that is a common member of the human [[gut flora]]. It can also survive outside the human body.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bensasson D, Dicks J, Ludwig JM, Bond CJ, Elliston A, Roberts IN, James SA | title = Diverse Lineages of ''Candida albicans'' Live on Old Oaks | journal = Genetics | volume = 211 | issue = 1 | pages = 277–288 | date = January 2019 | pmid = 30463870 | pmc = 6325710 | doi = 10.1534/genetics.118.301482 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Odds FC |title=Candida and Candidosis: A Review and Bibliography|date=1988|publisher=Bailliere Tindall|location=London; Philadelphia|isbn=978-0702012655|edition=2nd|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/manualofcardiacd0000khan}}</ref> It is detected in the gastrointestinal tract and mouth in 40–60% of healthy adults.<ref name="Kerawala 2010">{{cite book |veditors=Kerawala C, Newlands C |title=Oral and maxillofacial surgery |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-920483-0 |pages=446, 447}}</ref><ref name="SIFO">{{cite journal | vauthors = Erdogan A, Rao SS | title = Small intestinal fungal overgrowth | journal = Current Gastroenterology Reports | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 16 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25786900 | doi = 10.1007/s11894-015-0436-2 | s2cid = 3098136 }}</ref> It is usually a [[commensal]] organism, but it can become [[pathogen]]ic in [[immunodeficiency|immunocompromised]] individuals under a variety of conditions.<ref name="SIFO"/><ref name="pmid24789109"/> It is one of the few species of the genus ''[[Candida (fungus)|Candida]]'' that cause the human infection [[candidiasis]], which results from an overgrowth of the fungus.<ref name="SIFO"/><ref name="pmid24789109"/> Candidiasis is, for example, often observed in [[HIV]]-infected patients.<ref name="Calderone"/>
''C. albicans'' is the most common fungal species isolated from [[biofilm]]s either formed on (permanent) implanted medical devices or on human [[Tissue (biology)|tissue]].<ref name=Kumamoto2002>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kumamoto CA | title = Candida biofilms | journal = Current Opinion in Microbiology | volume = 5 | issue = 6 | pages = 608–611 | date = December 2002 | pmid = 12457706 | doi = 10.1016/s1369-5274(02)00371-5 }}</ref><ref name=Donlan2001>{{cite journal | vauthors = Donlan RM | title = Biofilm formation: a clinically relevant microbiological process | journal = Clinical Infectious Diseases | volume = 33 | issue = 8 | pages = 1387–1392 | date = October 2001 | pmid = 11565080 | doi = 10.1086/322972 | doi-access = free }}</ref> ''C. albicans'', [[Candida tropicalis|''C. tropicalis'']], [[Candida parapsilosis|''C. parapsilosis'']], and [[Candida glabrata|''C. glabrata'']] are together responsible for 50–90% of all cases of candidiasis in humans.<ref name="pmid24789109"/><ref name="Pfaller">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pfaller MA, Diekema DJ | title = Epidemiology of invasive candidiasis: a persistent public health problem | journal = Clinical Microbiology Reviews | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 133–163 | date = January 2007 | pmid = 17223626 | pmc = 1797637 | doi = 10.1128/CMR.00029-06 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Schlecht LM, Peters BM, Krom BP, Freiberg JA, Hänsch GM, Filler SG, Jabra-Rizk MA, Shirtliff ME | display-authors = 6 | title = Systemic Staphylococcus aureus infection mediated by Candida albicans hyphal invasion of mucosal tissue | journal = Microbiology | volume = 161 | issue = Pt 1 | pages = 168–181 | date = January 2015 | pmid = 25332378 | pmc = 4274785 | doi = 10.1099/mic.0.083485-0 | doi-access = free }}</ref> A mortality rate of 40% has been reported for patients with systemic candidiasis due to ''C. albicans''.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Singh R, Chakrabarti A | veditors = Prasad R |title=Candida albicans: Cellular and Molecular Biology|date=2017|publisher=Springer International Publishing AG|location=Switzerland|isbn=978-3-319-50408-7|page=27|edition=2|chapter=Invasive Candidiasis in the Southeast-Asian Region}}</ref> By one estimate, invasive candidiasis contracted in a hospital causes 2,800 to 11,200 deaths yearly in the US.<ref name="Pfaller"/> Nevertheless, these numbers may not truly reflect the true extent of damage this organism causes, given  studies indicating that ''C. albicans'' can cross the [[blood–brain barrier]] in mice.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wu Y, Du S, Johnson JL, Tung HY, Landers CT, Liu Y, Seman BG, Wheeler RT, Costa-Mattioli M, Kheradmand F, Zheng H, Corry DB | display-authors = 6 | title = Microglia and amyloid precursor protein coordinate control of transient Candida cerebritis with memory deficits | journal = Nature Communications | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 58 | date = January 2019 | pmid = 30610193 | pmc = 6320369 | doi = 10.1038/s41467-018-07991-4 | bibcode = 2019NatCo..10...58W }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-fungi-brain-infection-impair-memory.html | title=Fungi cause brain infection and impair memory in mice | access-date=2019-01-04 | archive-date=2023-11-20 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120131239/https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01-fungi-brain-infection-impair-memory.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

''C. albicans'' is commonly used as a [[model organism]] for fungal pathogens.<ref name="Kabir">{{cite journal | vauthors = Kabir MA, Hussain MA, Ahmad Z | title = Candida albicans: A Model Organism for Studying Fungal Pathogens | journal = ISRN Microbiology | volume = 2012 | pages = 538694 | date = 2012 | pmid = 23762753 | pmc = 3671685 | doi = 10.5402/2012/538694 | doi-access = free }}</ref> It is generally referred to as a [[dimorphic fungus]] since it grows both as [[yeast]] and [[hypha|filamentous]] cells. However, it has several different [[#Morphology|morphological]] phenotypes including opaque, GUT, and pseudohyphal forms.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kadosh D | title = Regulatory mechanisms controlling morphology and pathogenesis in Candida albicans | journal = Current Opinion in Microbiology | volume = 52 | pages = 27–34 | date = December 2019 | pmid = 31129557 | pmc = 6874724 | doi = 10.1016/j.mib.2019.04.005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Basso V, d'Enfert C, Znaidi S, Bachellier-Bassi S | title = Fungal Physiology and Immunopathogenesis | chapter = From Genes to Networks: The Regulatory Circuitry Controlling Candida albicans Morphogenesis | series = Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology | volume = 422 | pages = 61–99 | date = 2019 | pmid = 30368597 | doi = 10.1007/82_2018_144 | isbn = 978-3-030-30236-8 }}</ref> ''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.<ref name=" Hickman">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hickman MA, Zeng G, Forche A, Hirakawa MP, Abbey D, Harrison BD, Wang YM, Su CH, Bennett RJ, Wang Y, Berman J | display-authors = 6 | title = The 'obligate diploid' Candida albicans forms mating-competent haploids | journal = Nature | volume = 494 | issue = 7435 | pages = 55–59 | date = February 2013 | pmid = 23364695 | pmc = 3583542 | doi = 10.1038/nature11865 | bibcode = 2013Natur.494...55H }}</ref> The diploid genome size is approximately 29&nbsp;Mb, and up to 70% of the protein coding genes have not yet been characterized.<ref name="candidagenome.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.candidagenome.org/cache/C_albicans_SC5314_genomeSnapshot.html|title=Candida albicans SC5314 Genome Snapshot/Overview|website=www.candidagenome.org|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116021638/http://www.candidagenome.org/cache/C_albicans_SC5314_genomeSnapshot.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
''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 ''Candida'' species.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sevilla MJ, Odds FC | title = Development of Candida albicans hyphae in different growth media--variations in growth rates, cell dimensions and timing of morphogenetic events | journal = Journal of General Microbiology | volume = 132 | issue = 11 | pages = 3083–3088 | date = November 1986 | pmid = 3305781 | doi = 10.1099/00221287-132-11-3083 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Odds FC, Bernaerts R | title = CHROMagar Candida, a new differential isolation medium for presumptive identification of clinically important Candida species | journal = Journal of Clinical Microbiology | volume = 32 | issue = 8 | pages = 1923–1929 | date = August 1994 | pmid = 7989544 | pmc = 263904 | doi = 10.1128/JCM.32.8.1923-1929.1994 }}</ref>