Genome Integrity: Mechanisms and Contribution to Antifungal Resistance
Raphaël Loll, Adeline Feri, Christophe d'Enfert and Mélanie Legrand
from: Antifungals: From Genomics to Resistance and the Development of Novel Agents (Edited by: Alix T. Coste and Patrick Vandeputte). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2015) Pages: 211-236.
Abstract
Along with a growing population of immunocompromised patients, a steady increase in the number of invasive fungal infections has been observed over the last decades. Among human fungal pathogens, Candida albicans is one of the most prevalent and can cause life-threatening infections in humans. Although antifungal treatments are available and routinely used against fungal infections, one of the major issues in the treatment of these infections is the appearance of antifungal resistant cells. Over the last decade, genome plasticity of fungal pathogens in general and C. albicans in particular has emerged to be an important factor that contributes to their ability to acquire resistance to antifungal drugs. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the most important genome rearrangements that have been shown to occur upon antifungal exposure and/or lead to antifungal resistance. We also review recent advances in another important aspect in the field of genome stability and antifungal resistance, which is the characterization of the molecular mechanisms that can drive or prevent genome rearrangements in fungal pathogens. Finally, we address the effect of such large-scale genome changes on the fitness of antifungal resistant cells read more ...
