Large-scale gene function analysis in Candida albicans

Candida albicans is the most frequently isolated systemic fungal pathogen of humans. Studies of gene function in C. albicans have relied heavily on budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a model or surrogate expression host because the genetics of C. albicans are unwieldy. Three recent reports describe different strategies that overcome the limitations of C. albicans genetics and provide a preview of large-scale C. albicans gene function analysis. The preview is slightly hazy as some of the data remain confidential; such secrecy in a publication is a break with tradition in fungal pathogenesis research and genome-wide analyses. Nonetheless, these strategies provide vital tools that could be used to explore the genetic basis of fungal virulence and related unique C. albicans biological traits, and to probe the functions of the many C. albicans genes that lack close S. cerevisiae homologs.