The dimorphic yeast, Candida albicans is both a human pathogen and a commensal organism, occupying many niches in and on the human body. Discovery of new metastable morphological states of the organism has led to the hypothesis that its polymorphic nature is related to pathogenesis. Furthermore, these polymorphic states may mask epidemiological relationships in clinical isolates. This project is designed to understand the mechanism of switching between morphological states and to provide DNA sequence markers that will identify particular strains of various Candida species and permit predictive diagnosis for drug sensitivity and other aspects of pathogenesis.
| Rustchenko-Bulgac, E P; Howard, D H (1993) Multiple chromosomal and phenotypic changes in spontaneous mutants of Candida albicans. J Gen Microbiol 139 Pt 6:1195-207 |
| Sadhu, C; McEachern, M J; Rustchenko-Bulgac, E P et al. (1991) Telomeric and dispersed repeat sequences in Candida yeasts and their use in strain identification. J Bacteriol 173:842-50 |
| Kwon-Chung, K J; Hicks, J B; Lipke, P N (1990) Evidence that Candida stellatoidea type II is a mutant of Candida albicans that does not express sucrose-inhibitable alpha-glucosidase. Infect Immun 58:2804-8 |
| Rustchenko-Bulgac, E P; Sherman, F; Hicks, J B (1990) Chromosomal rearrangements associated with morphological mutants provide a means for genetic variation of Candida albicans. J Bacteriol 172:1276-83 |
