Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Jeanne Ropars; Kerstin Voelz; Robin C May; Corinne Maufrais; Dorothée Diogo; Marina Marcet-Houben; Aurélie Perin; Natacha Sertour; Kevin Mosca; Emmanuelle Permal; Guillaume Laval; Christiane Bouchier; Laurence Ma; Katja Schwartz; Julie Poulain; Christophe Battail; Patrick Wincker; Andrew M Borman; Anuradha Chowdhary; Shangrong Fan; Soo Hyun Kim; Patrice Le Pape; Orazio Romeo; Jong Hee Shin; Toni Gabaldon; Gavin Sherlock; Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux; Christophe d'Enfert

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4

Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Jeanne Ropars, Kerstin Voelz, Robin C May, Corinne Maufrais, Dorothée Diogo, Marina Marcet-Houben, Aurélie Perin, Natacha Sertour, Kevin Mosca, Emmanuelle Permal, Guillaume Laval, Christiane Bouchier, Laurence Ma, Katja Schwartz, Julie Poulain, Christophe Battail, Patrick Wincker, Andrew M Borman, Anuradha Chowdhary, Shangrong FanSoo Hyun Kim, Patrice Le Pape, Orazio Romeo, Jong Hee Shin, Toni Gabaldon, Gavin Sherlock, Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux, Christophe d'Enfert

Biosciences

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Abstract

Elucidating population structure and levels of genetic diversity and recombination is necessary to understand the evolution and adaptation of species. Candida albicans is the second most frequent agent of human fungal infections worldwide, causing high-mortality rates. Here we present the genomic sequences of 182 C. albicans isolates collected worldwide, including commensal isolates, as well as ones responsible for superficial and invasive infections, constituting the largest dataset to date for this major fungal pathogen. Although, C. albicans shows a predominantly clonal population structure, we find evidence of gene flow between previously known and newly identified genetic clusters, supporting the occurrence of (para)sexuality in nature. A highly clonal lineage, which experimentally shows reduced fitness, has undergone pseudogenization in genes required for virulence and morphogenesis, which may explain its niche restriction. Candida albicans thus takes advantage of both clonality and gene flow to diversify.

Original language	English
Article number	2253
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4
Publication status	Published - 8 Jun 2018

Keywords

Microbial genetics
Pathogens
Population genetics

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Ropars_Gene_Flow_Nature_Communications
Jeanne Ropars et al., Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans, Nature Communications 9, Article number: 2253 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4. Checked 06/07/2018.
Final published version, 2.89 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

Ropars, J., Voelz, K., May, R. C., Maufrais, C., Diogo, D., Marcet-Houben, M., Perin, A., Sertour, N., Mosca, K., Permal, E., Laval, G., Bouchier, C., Ma, L., Schwartz, K., Poulain, J., Battail, C., Wincker, P., Borman, A. M., Chowdhary, A., ... d'Enfert, C. (2018). Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Nature Communications, 9, Article 2253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4

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abstract = "Elucidating population structure and levels of genetic diversity and recombination is necessary to understand the evolution and adaptation of species. Candida albicans is the second most frequent agent of human fungal infections worldwide, causing high-mortality rates. Here we present the genomic sequences of 182 C. albicans isolates collected worldwide, including commensal isolates, as well as ones responsible for superficial and invasive infections, constituting the largest dataset to date for this major fungal pathogen. Although, C. albicans shows a predominantly clonal population structure, we find evidence of gene flow between previously known and newly identified genetic clusters, supporting the occurrence of (para)sexuality in nature. A highly clonal lineage, which experimentally shows reduced fitness, has undergone pseudogenization in genes required for virulence and morphogenesis, which may explain its niche restriction. Candida albicans thus takes advantage of both clonality and gene flow to diversify.",

keywords = "Microbial genetics, Pathogens, Population genetics",

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Ropars, J, Voelz, K, May, RC, Maufrais, C, Diogo, D, Marcet-Houben, M, Perin, A, Sertour, N, Mosca, K, Permal, E, Laval, G, Bouchier, C, Ma, L, Schwartz, K, Poulain, J, Battail, C, Wincker, P, Borman, AM, Chowdhary, A, Fan, S, Kim, SH, Le Pape, P, Romeo, O, Shin, JH, Gabaldon, T, Sherlock, G, Bougnoux, M-E & d'Enfert, C 2018, 'Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans', Nature Communications, vol. 9, 2253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4

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T1 - Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans

AU - Ropars, Jeanne

AU - Voelz, Kerstin

AU - May, Robin C

AU - Maufrais, Corinne

AU - Diogo, Dorothée

AU - Marcet-Houben, Marina

AU - Perin, Aurélie

AU - Sertour, Natacha

AU - Mosca, Kevin

AU - Permal, Emmanuelle

AU - Laval, Guillaume

AU - Bouchier, Christiane

AU - Ma, Laurence

AU - Schwartz, Katja

AU - Poulain, Julie

AU - Battail, Christophe

AU - Wincker, Patrick

AU - Borman, Andrew M

AU - Chowdhary, Anuradha

AU - Fan, Shangrong

AU - Kim, Soo Hyun

AU - Le Pape, Patrice

AU - Romeo, Orazio

AU - Shin, Jong Hee

AU - Gabaldon, Toni

AU - Sherlock, Gavin

AU - Bougnoux, Marie-Elisabeth

AU - d'Enfert, Christophe

PY - 2018/6/8

Y1 - 2018/6/8

N2 - Elucidating population structure and levels of genetic diversity and recombination is necessary to understand the evolution and adaptation of species. Candida albicans is the second most frequent agent of human fungal infections worldwide, causing high-mortality rates. Here we present the genomic sequences of 182 C. albicans isolates collected worldwide, including commensal isolates, as well as ones responsible for superficial and invasive infections, constituting the largest dataset to date for this major fungal pathogen. Although, C. albicans shows a predominantly clonal population structure, we find evidence of gene flow between previously known and newly identified genetic clusters, supporting the occurrence of (para)sexuality in nature. A highly clonal lineage, which experimentally shows reduced fitness, has undergone pseudogenization in genes required for virulence and morphogenesis, which may explain its niche restriction. Candida albicans thus takes advantage of both clonality and gene flow to diversify.

AB - Elucidating population structure and levels of genetic diversity and recombination is necessary to understand the evolution and adaptation of species. Candida albicans is the second most frequent agent of human fungal infections worldwide, causing high-mortality rates. Here we present the genomic sequences of 182 C. albicans isolates collected worldwide, including commensal isolates, as well as ones responsible for superficial and invasive infections, constituting the largest dataset to date for this major fungal pathogen. Although, C. albicans shows a predominantly clonal population structure, we find evidence of gene flow between previously known and newly identified genetic clusters, supporting the occurrence of (para)sexuality in nature. A highly clonal lineage, which experimentally shows reduced fitness, has undergone pseudogenization in genes required for virulence and morphogenesis, which may explain its niche restriction. Candida albicans thus takes advantage of both clonality and gene flow to diversify.

KW - Microbial genetics

KW - Pathogens

KW - Population genetics

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4

DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-04787-4

M3 - Article

C2 - 29884848

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 9

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 2253

ER -

Gene flow contributes to diversification of the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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