Open AccessLineage-specific selection and the evolution of virulence in the Candida clade
Author(s) -
Sheena D. Singh-Babak,
Tomas Babak,
Hunter B. Fraser,
Alexander D. Johnson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2016818118
Subject(s) - biology , virulence , candida dubliniensis , gene , genetics , candida albicans , genome , corpus albicans , lineage (genetic) , phylogenetics , negative selection , phenotype , gene expression
Significance Of the many microbial species on earth, only a small number are able to thrive in humans and cause disease. Comparison of closely related pathogenic and nonpathogenic species can therefore be useful in identifying key features that contribute to virulence. We created interspecies hybrids betweenCandida albicans , a prevalent fungal pathogen of humans, andCandida dubliniensis , a close, but much less pathogenic, relative. By comparing genome-wide expression differences between the two genomes in the same cell, we surmised that since the two species diverged from a common ancestor, natural selection has acted upon the expression level of an ancient metabolic pathway, illustrating that pathogenicity traits can arise over evolutionary timescales through small expression changes in deeply conserved proteins.