Identification of a Mating Type-Like Locus in the Asexual Pathogenic Yeast Candida albicans

Candida albicans, the most prevalent fungal pathogen in humans, is thought to lack a sexual cycle. A set of C. albicans genes has been identified that corresponds to the master sexual cycle regulators a1, alpha1, and alpha2 of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mating-type (MAT) locus. The C. albicans genes are arranged in a way that suggests that these genes are part of a mating type-like locus that is similar to the mating-type loci of other fungi. In addition to the transcriptional regulators a1, alpha1, and alpha2, the C. albicans mating type-like locus contains several genes not seen in other fungal MAT loci, including those encoding proteins similar to poly(A) polymerases, oxysterol binding proteins, and phosphatidylinositol kinases.