Comparative Candida Genomic Project

Project Information

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The sequencing and annotation of five Candida species (C. albicans (WO-1), C. tropicalis, L. elongisporus, C. guilliermondii, and C. lusitaniae) was proposed by the Fungal Genome Inititative and funded by the NHGRI. These genomes as well as C. albicans (SC5314) sequenced at Stanford and the Biotechnology Research Institute of the National Research Council Canada and three related species being sequenced at the Welcome Trust Sanger Institute and at Genoscope provide an extraordinary opportunity for the comparative analysis of genes and genomes across the Candida clade, as well as to the sister Saccharomyces clade.

Candida species are the most common human fungal pathogens. Candida cause severe systemic disease in individuals who are immunocompromised, post-surgery, or taking broad-spectrum antibiotics. Although a single species, C. albicans, is responsible for about half of the Candida infections, a wide variety Candida species contribute to the remainder, and the prevalence of these non-albicans infections is increasing (1). The genome sequence of C. albicans (SC5314) (2, 3) represented an enormous advance in the study of Candida, providing the foundation for systematic gene studies. As part of the Fungal Genome Initiative, we have sequenced and annotated five Candida species: C. albicans (WO-1), C. tropicalis (MYA-3404), L. elongisporus (NRRL YB-4239), C. guilliermondii (ATCC6260), and C. lusitaniae (ATCC42720). All clones for these five genomes were constructed here at The Broad Institute. Three additional recently sequenced genomes also fall within this phylogenetic group: C. dubliniensis, C. parapsilosis, and Debaryomyces hansenii. This growing set of Candida genome sequences allows comparisons across a range of evolutionary distances, enabling many different approaches to study the conservation of genes and regulatory elements as well as the evolution of these elements and genomic architecture within Candida species.

References

1. K. C. Hazen, Clin Microbiol Rev 8, 462 (Oct, 1995).
2. B. R. Braun et al., PLoS Genet 1, 36 (Jul, 2005).
3. T. Jones et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101, 7329 (May 11, 2004).

Data access and Citation

The annotated assemblies from this project are available in Genbank for the following genomes: Candida albicans WO-1, Candida tropicalis, Lodderomyces elongisporus, Candida guilliermondii, and Candida lusitaniae.

For use of this data, please cite: Butler G, Rasmussen MD, Lin MF, Santos MA, Sakthikumar S, Munro CA, Rheinbay E, Grabherr M, Forche A, Reedy JL, Agrafioti I, Arnaud MB, Bates S, Brown AJ, Brunke S, Costanzo MC, Fitzpatrick DA, de Groot PW, Harris D, Hoyer LL, Hube B, Klis FM, Kodira C, Lennard N, Logue ME, Martin R, Neiman AM, Nikolaou E, Quail MA, Quinn J, Santos MC, Schmitzberger FF, Sherlock G, Shah P, Silverstein KA, Skrzypek MS, Soll D, Staggs R, Stansfield I, Stumpf MP, Sudbery PE, Srikantha T, Zeng Q, Berman J, Berriman M, Heitman J, Gow NA, Lorenz MC, Birren BW, Kellis M*, Cuomo CA*. 2009. Evolution of pathogenicity and sexual reproduction in eight Candida genomes. Nature 459:657-62.