title: Evolutionary genomics of yeast pathogens in the Saccharomycotina.
abstract: Saccharomycotina comprises a diverse group of yeasts that includes numerous species of industrial or clinical relevance. Opportunistic pathogens within this clade are often assigned to the genus Candida but belong to phylogenetically distant lineages that also comprise non-pathogenic species. This indicates that the ability to infect humans has evolved independently several times among Saccharomycotina. Although the mechanisms of infection of the main groups of Candida pathogens are starting to be unveiled, we still lack sufficient understanding of the evolutionary paths that led to a virulent phenotype in each of the pathogenic lineages. Deciphering what genomic changes underlie the evolutionary emergence of a virulence trait will not only aid the discovery of novel virulence mechanisms but it will also provide valuable information to understand how new pathogens emerge, and what clades may pose a future danger. Here we review recent comparative genomics efforts that have revealed possible evolutionary paths to pathogenesis in different lineages, focusing on the main three agents of candidiasis worldwide: Candida albicans, C. parapsilosis and C. glabrata We will discuss what genomic traits may facilitate the emergence of virulence, and focus on two different genome evolution mechanisms able to generate drastic phenotypic changes and which have been associated to the emergence of virulence: gene family expansion and interspecies hybridization.
authors: Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain tgabaldon@crg.es.
authors: Toni
authors: T
authors: Gabaldón
authors: Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Miguel A
authors: MA
authors: Naranjo-Ortíz
authors: Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Marina
authors: M
authors: Marcet-Houben
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D023281:Genomics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Candida; Saccharomycotina; evolution; genomics; pathogens