Molecular genetic techniques for gene manipulation in Candida albicans.
Candida albicans is one of the most common fungal pathogen in humans due to its high frequency as an opportunistic and pathogenic fungus causing superficial as well as invasive infections in immunocompromised patients. An understanding of gene function in C. albicans is necessary to study the molecular basis of its pathogenesis, virulence and drug resistance. Several manipulation techniques have been used for investigation of gene function in C. albicans, including gene disruption, controlled gene expression, protein tagging, gene reintegration, and overexpression. In this review, the main cassettes containing selectable markers used for gene manipulation in C. albicans are summarized; the advantages and limitations of these cassettes are discussed concerning the influences on the target gene expression and the virulence of the mutant strains.
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine; College of Pharmacy; Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Fuzhou, Fujian PR China.
Qiu-Rong
QR
Xu
Center for New Drug Research; School of Pharmacy; Second Military Medical University; Shanghai, PR China.
Lan
L
Yan
Center for New Drug Research; School of Pharmacy; Second Military Medical University; Shanghai, PR China.
Quan-Zhen
QZ
Lv
Center for New Drug Research; School of Pharmacy; Second Military Medical University; Shanghai, PR China.
Mi
M
Zhou
School of Life Science and Bio-pharmaceutics; Shenyang Pharmaceutical University; Shenyang, Liaoning PR China.
Xue
X
Sui
Center for New Drug Research; School of Pharmacy; Second Military Medical University; Shanghai, PR China.
Yong-Bing
YB
Cao
Center for New Drug Research; School of Pharmacy; Second Military Medical University; Shanghai, PR China.
Yuan-Ying
YY
Jiang
D000818:Animals; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans; D014774:Virulence
D005656:Fungal Proteins
Candida albicans; gene manipulation; homologous recombination; selectable markers; virulence