title: Use of phylogenetical analysis to predict susceptibility of pathogenic Candida spp. to antifungal drugs.
abstract: Successful treatment of a Candida infection relies on 1) an accurate identification of the pathogenic fungus and 2) on its susceptibility to antifungal drugs. In the present study we investigated the level of correlation between phylogenetical evolution and susceptibility of pathogenic Candida spp. to antifungal drugs. For this, we compared a phylogenetic tree, assembled with the concatenated sequences (2475-bp) of the ATP2, TEF1, and TUF1 genes from 20 representative Candida species, with published minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the four principal antifungal drug classes commonly used in the treatment of candidiasis: polyenes, triazoles, nucleoside analogues, and echinocandins. The phylogenetic tree revealed three distinct phylogenetic clusters among Candida species. Species within a given phylogenetic cluster have generally similar susceptibility profiles to antifungal drugs and species within Clusters II and III were less sensitive to antifungal drugs than Cluster I species. These results showed that phylogenetical relationship between clusters and susceptibility to several antifungal drugs could be used to guide therapy when only species identification is available prior to information pertaining to its resistance profile. An extended study comprising a large panel of clinical samples should be conducted to confirm the efficiency of this approach in the treatment of candidiasis.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrée F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Maheux
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Adnane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sellam
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada; Centre d'Étude de la Forêt, 2141, Pavillon C.-E. Marchand, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Piché
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boissinot
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de microbiologie de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Dominique K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Boudreau
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: François J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Picard
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Trépanier
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie-Josée
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Boily
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouellette
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en infectiologie de l'Université Laval, Axe Maladies infectieuses et immunitaires, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: michel.g.bergeron@chudequebec.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Michel G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bergeron
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002175:Candida / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D054714:Echinocandins / Q000494:pharmacology; D020043:Genes, Essential; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D011090:Polyenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D014230:Triazoles / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D054714:Echinocandins; D011090:Polyenes; D014230:Triazoles
keywords: Antifungal susceptibility; Candida; Housekeeping genes; Phylogeny