Cited by 47Fungal and yeast genetics researchAntifungal resistance and susceptibilityYeasts and Rust Fungi Studies

Parasex Generates Phenotypic Diversity de Novo and Impacts Drug Resistance and Virulence in Candida albicans

Open access
Hirakawa, Matthew P, Chyou, Darius E, Huang, Denis, Slan, Aaron R, Bennett, Richard J·2017·Genetics

Abstract

Abstract Candida albicans is a diploid fungus that is a frequent cause of mucosal and systemic infections in humans. This species exhibits an unusual parasexual cycle in which mating produces tetraploid cells that undergo a nonmeiotic program of concerted chromosome loss to return to a diploid or aneuploid state. In this work, we used a multipronged approach to examine the capacity of parasex to generate diversity in C. albicans. First, we compared the phenotypic properties of 32 genotyped progeny and observed wide-ranging differences in fitness, filamentation, biofilm formation, and virulence. Strikingly, one parasexual isolate displayed increased virulence relative to parental strains using a Galleria mellonella model of infection, establishing that parasex has the potential to enhance pathogenic traits. Next, we examined parasexual progeny derived from homothallic, same-sex mating events, and reveal that parasex can generate diversity de novo from identical parental strains. Finally, we generated pools of parasexual progeny and examined resistance of these pools to environmental stresses. Parasexual progeny were generally less fit than control strains across most test conditions, but showed an increased ability to grow in the presence of the antifungal drug fluconazole (FL). FL-resistant progeny were aneuploid isolates, often being diploid strains trisomic for both Chr3 and Chr6. Passaging of these aneuploid strains frequently led to loss of the supernumerary chromosomes and a concomitant decrease in drug resistance. These experiments establish that parasex generates extensive phenotypic diversity de novo, and that this process has important consequences for both virulence and drug resistance in C. albicans populations.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1534/genetics.117.300295

Cites

110 of 110 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Elevated copy numbers of chromosomes 3 and 6 are associated with fluconazole resistance in C. albicans.

    “Another recent study added elevated copy numbers of chromosomes 3 and 6 to the list of genome rearrangements associated with fluconazole resistance in C. albicans [83].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hirakawa, M. P., Chyou, D. E., Huang, D., Slan, A. R., & Bennett, R. J.
Affiliations
Brown University (US)
Corresponding author
Bennett, Richard J
Venue
Genetics
Published
2017-09-14
Volume
207
Issue
3
Pages
1195-1211
ISSN
  • 0016-6731 (ISSN-L)
  • 1943-2631
OpenAlex
W2756439128
Cited by
47
References
110
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 6
FWCI
2.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Genetics (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Burroughs Wellcome Fund
  • Broad Institute
  • University of Aberdeen
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01ai081704-12, AI081704)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01-AI081704, R21AI112363)
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (F31DE023726)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Yeasts and Rust Fungi Studies
Keywords
Candida albicans, parasexual cycle, phenotypic diversity, drug resistance, fluconazole resistance, virulence, aneuploidy, chromosome loss, homothallism, filamentation, biofilm formation, Galleria mellonella infection model, fitness, diploidy
MeSH terms
Antifungal Agents, Candida, Cell Division, Phenotype, Ploidies, Genetic Variation, Virulence, Fluconazole, Drug Resistance, Fungal

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review