Dept. of Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Minnesota, 1472 Gortner Avenue, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
Abstract:
Candida albicans and the closely related species Candida stellatoidea are medically important diploid asexual yeasts. Clinical isolates frequently show variant electrophoretic karyotypes, apparently due largely to chromosomal translocations. These translocations seem to occur at hot spots characterized by the repeated DNA sequence RSP1. A programmed karyotypic rearrangement occurs in C. stellatoidea. Karyotypic rearrangement may serve as a source of genetic variation in these asexual yeasts.