What is it about?
Candida albicans is a fungal pathogen that frequently colonizes the gastrointestinal tract. We show that strains carrying an extra copy of chromosome 7 show increased gut colonization due to a decrease in filamentation. This change is the direct result of changes in the copy number of NRG1 (which resides on Chr 7) and is a repressor of filamentation.
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Why is it important?
Fungal strains often gain or lose additional chromosomes and become aneuploid, but there remains limited insight into how different forms of aneuploidy are beneficial for fungal fitness. Here, we show how a specific form of aneuploidy, acquisition of an extra copy of chromosome 7, improves fungal growth in the gut. We link this fitness advantage to an increase in gene dosage in a single transcription factor, NRG1, which is a regulator or filamentation. Our study therefore reveals how changes at the whole chromosome level are beneficial due to accompanying changes in expression of a single gene encoded on that chromosome. In this case,
Perspectives
Fungi are incredibly important human fungal pathogens and yet often are not recognized for their prevalent role in human health and infectious disease. This article allowed us to determine the mechanism by which chromosome-level changes in Candida albicans alters its ability to grow within a mammalian host. It connects
Richard Bennett
Brown University
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This page is a summary of: Aneuploidy and gene dosage regulate filamentation and host colonization by
Candida albicans, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2218163120.
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