Nine Things Genomics Can Tell Us About Candida auris

doi:10.3389/fgene.2020.00351

Review

. 2020 Apr 15:11:351.

doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00351. eCollection 2020.

Nine Things Genomics Can Tell Us About Candida auris

Aleksandra D Chybowska¹, Delma S Childers², Rhys A Farrer³

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, Medical Sciences, and Nutrition, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
² Aberdeen Fungal Group, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
³ Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology at The University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.

PMID: 32351544
PMCID: PMC7174702
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00351

Review

Nine Things Genomics Can Tell Us About Candida auris

Aleksandra D Chybowska et al. Front Genet. 2020.

. 2020 Apr 15:11:351.

doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00351. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Aleksandra D Chybowska¹, Delma S Childers², Rhys A Farrer³

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, Medical Sciences, and Nutrition, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
² Aberdeen Fungal Group, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
³ Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology at The University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.

PMID: 32351544
PMCID: PMC7174702
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00351

Abstract

Candida auris is a recently emerged multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen causing severe illness in hospitalized patients. C. auris is most closely related to a few environmental or rarely observed but cosmopolitan Candida species. However, C. auris is unique in the concern it is generating among public health agencies for its rapid emergence, difficulty to treat, and the likelihood for further and more extensive outbreaks and spread. To date, five geographically distributed and genetically divergent lineages have been identified, none of which includes isolates that were collected prior to 1996. Indeed, C. auris' ecological niche(s) and emergence remain enigmatic, although a number of hypotheses have been proposed. Recent genomic and transcriptomic work has also identified a variety of gene and chromosomal features that may have conferred C. auris with several important clinical phenotypes including its drug-resistance and growth at high temperatures. In this review we discuss nine major lines of enquiry into C. auris that big-data technologies and analytical approaches are beginning to answer.

Keywords: Candida auris; antifungal resistance mechanisms; emergence; epigenetics; genomics; virulence factors.

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Figures

**FIGURE 1**
Mechanisms of drug action and resistance observed in *C. auris*. **(A)** The main mechanisms of antifungals that disrupt the cell membrane or cell wall. **(B)** In the nucleus, 5-flucytosine inhibits the synthesis of fungal DNA and RNA. **(C)** Mechanisms of antifungal resistance to drugs that damage the cell membrane or cell wall.

**FIGURE 2**
Putative *C. auris* virulence factors. Key orthologs of *C. albicans* virulence factors that are transcriptionally induced during *C. auris* growth at 37°C are indicated by orange text within each box. *C. auris* Hog1 is the only conserved ortholog with *C. albicans* that has been experimentally confirmed to play a role in virulence.

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References

1. Abdalhamid B., Almaghrabi R., Althawadi S., Omrani A. (2018). First report of Candida auris infections from Saudi Arabia. J. Infect. Public Health 11 598–599. 10.1016/j.jiph.2018.05.010 - DOI - PubMed
1. Abram N. J., McGregor H. V., Tierney J. E., Evans M. N., McKay N. P., Kaufman D. S., et al. (2016). Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents. Nature 536 411–418. 10.1038/nature19082 - DOI - PubMed
1. Adam R. D., Revathi G., Okinda N., Fontaine M., Shah J., Kagotho E., et al. (2019). Analysis of Candida auris fungemia at a single facility in Kenya. Int. J. Infect. Dis. IJID Off. Publ. Int. Soc. Infect. Dis. 85 182–187. 10.1016/j.ijid.2019.06.001 - DOI - PubMed
1. Aguilar-Zapata D., Petraitiene R., Petraitis V. (2015). Echinocandins: the expanding antifungal armamentarium. Clin. Infect. Dis. Off. Publ. Infect. Dis. Soc. Am. 61(Suppl. 6) S604–S611. 10.1093/cid/civ814 - DOI - PubMed
1. Alatoom A., Sartawi M., Lawlor K., AbdelWareth L., Thomsen J., Nusair A., et al. (2018). Persistent candidemia despite appropriate fungal therapy: first case of Candida auris from the United Arab Emirates. Int. J. Infect. Dis. IJID Off. Publ. Int. Soc. Infect. Dis. 70 36–37. 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.02.005 - DOI - PubMed

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[1] Abdalhamid B., Almaghrabi R., Althawadi S., Omrani A. (2018). First report of Candida auris infections from Saudi Arabia. J. Infect. Public Health 11 598–599. 10.1016/j.jiph.2018.05.010 - DOI - PubMed

[2] Abdalhamid B., Almaghrabi R., Althawadi S., Omrani A. (2018). First report of Candida auris infections from Saudi Arabia. J. Infect. Public Health 11 598–599. 10.1016/j.jiph.2018.05.010 - DOI - PubMed

[3] Abram N. J., McGregor H. V., Tierney J. E., Evans M. N., McKay N. P., Kaufman D. S., et al. (2016). Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents. Nature 536 411–418. 10.1038/nature19082 - DOI - PubMed

[4] Abram N. J., McGregor H. V., Tierney J. E., Evans M. N., McKay N. P., Kaufman D. S., et al. (2016). Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents. Nature 536 411–418. 10.1038/nature19082 - DOI - PubMed

[5] Adam R. D., Revathi G., Okinda N., Fontaine M., Shah J., Kagotho E., et al. (2019). Analysis of Candida auris fungemia at a single facility in Kenya. Int. J. Infect. Dis. IJID Off. Publ. Int. Soc. Infect. Dis. 85 182–187. 10.1016/j.ijid.2019.06.001 - DOI - PubMed

[6] Adam R. D., Revathi G., Okinda N., Fontaine M., Shah J., Kagotho E., et al. (2019). Analysis of Candida auris fungemia at a single facility in Kenya. Int. J. Infect. Dis. IJID Off. Publ. Int. Soc. Infect. Dis. 85 182–187. 10.1016/j.ijid.2019.06.001 - DOI - PubMed

[7] Aguilar-Zapata D., Petraitiene R., Petraitis V. (2015). Echinocandins: the expanding antifungal armamentarium. Clin. Infect. Dis. Off. Publ. Infect. Dis. Soc. Am. 61(Suppl. 6) S604–S611. 10.1093/cid/civ814 - DOI - PubMed

[8] Aguilar-Zapata D., Petraitiene R., Petraitis V. (2015). Echinocandins: the expanding antifungal armamentarium. Clin. Infect. Dis. Off. Publ. Infect. Dis. Soc. Am. 61(Suppl. 6) S604–S611. 10.1093/cid/civ814 - DOI - PubMed

[9] Alatoom A., Sartawi M., Lawlor K., AbdelWareth L., Thomsen J., Nusair A., et al. (2018). Persistent candidemia despite appropriate fungal therapy: first case of Candida auris from the United Arab Emirates. Int. J. Infect. Dis. IJID Off. Publ. Int. Soc. Infect. Dis. 70 36–37. 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.02.005 - DOI - PubMed

[10] Alatoom A., Sartawi M., Lawlor K., AbdelWareth L., Thomsen J., Nusair A., et al. (2018). Persistent candidemia despite appropriate fungal therapy: first case of Candida auris from the United Arab Emirates. Int. J. Infect. Dis. IJID Off. Publ. Int. Soc. Infect. Dis. 70 36–37. 10.1016/j.ijid.2018.02.005 - DOI - PubMed

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Nine Things Genomics Can Tell Us About Candida auris

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Nine Things Genomics Can Tell Us About Candida auris

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