Home • Candida albicans SC5314
Candida albicans growing on Sabouraud agar.
Candida albicans growing on Sabouraud agar.
Image Credit: CDC/Dr. William Kaplan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (PHIL), with identification number #3192

The genome and gene models of Candida albicans SC5314 were downloaded from NCBI on Oct 21, 2016. JGI tools were used to add functional annotations to the gene models. Please note that this copy of the genome is not maintained by NCBI and is therefore not automatically updated. In order to allow comparative analyses with other fungal genomes sequenced by the JGI, a copy of this genome is incorporated into Mycocosm.

Candida albicans is a dimorphic fungus that grows both as yeast and filamentous cells and one of the few species of the Candida genus that cause the infection candidiasis in humans. C. albicans is a common member of human gut flora and is detectable in the gastrointestinal tract in 40% of healthy adults. It is usually a commensal organism, but can become pathogenic in immunocompetent individuals under a variety of conditions. Overgrowth of the fungus results in candidiasis (candidosis). Candidiasis is often observed in immunocompromised individuals, including HIV-infected patients. It commonly occurs on mucous membranes in the mouth or vagina, but may affect a number of other regions. C. albicans is responsible for 50–90% of all cases of candidiasis in humans. Systemic fungal infections (fungemias) including those by C. albicans have emerged as important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients (e.g., AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, organ or bone marrow transplantation). C. albicans biofilms may form on the surface of implantable medical devices. In addition, hospital-acquired infections by C. albicans have become a cause of major health concerns.
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