Analysis of Candida albicans yields clues about pathogenicity

A team led by Broad researchers Christina Cuomo, Diego Martinez, Sharadha Sakthikumar, and Richard Bennett and Matthew Hirakawa at Brown University sequenced and phenotypically profiled 21 different isolates of the fungus Candida albicans. The study, which was published in the journal Genome Research, found extensive genetic and phenotypic diversity across the species and identified a natural mutation in the fungus that can affect whether it will live peacefully in the human gut or become pathogenic.