Genome-wide identification of transcriptional regulators and functional characterization in Candida albicans

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineThe post-genome sequencmg era heralds new avenues to explore the biology of newlineorganisms hitherto considered genetically intractable. While genomics is not typically newlinethought of as hypothesis-driven science, comparative genomics presents an opportunity newlineto generate many new hypotheses. Genome annotation predicts where the functional newlineelements of the genome are located and provides a starting point for directed newlineexperiments. Comparative genomics is a filter to identify regions of the genome that newlinehave undergone particular evolutionary changes and helps to establish the genetic bases newlineof phenotypic differences. newlineThe kingdom Fungi is comprised of organisms that thrive in diverse habitats newlinesuch as decaying organic matter or as plant and animal pathogens. Comparative newlinegenomics has helped the study of fungal evolution and provided a framework for newlineidentifying patterns of change in gene content and structure among species. A newlinecomparison of different fungi across lineages would illustrate how adaptive changes to newlinehabitats or lifestyles are manifested in the genome. Comparative genomics can also newlineidentify lineage-specific gene family expansions indicative of particular mechanisms newlinefor species adaptation. With the advancement of genomic technologies sequencing of newlinearound 80 fungal species are in the public domain and -50 more sequences covering all newlinethe lineages are in various stages of completion. Several related fungal genomes have newlinebeen sequenced so as to enable comparative analysis across a range of evolutionary newlinedistances. These clusters also include related organisms that differ in terms of specific newlinephysiological traits (i.e., pathogenicity), thus allowing these traits to be explored newlinethrough comparison. The growing complement of fungal genome sequences enables newlineother strategies for investigating fungal infection. Comparing genomes from newlinenonpathogenic species to related pathogenic organisms can identify genetic differences newlinethat contribute to infection and disease, while the comparison between strains with newlinedifferent host specifici