Bin He, Rachel Smoak, Lindsey Snyder, Michael Hart, Jan Fassler Biology Department, the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
This repository contains analysis data and results for the Candida auris adhesin project.
Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungus. Among its pathogenic traits isthe ability to strongly adhere to and persist on surfaces, making C. auris extremely difficult to eliminate once it establishes itself in healthcare facilities. Adhesin genes have been identified and are known to play a major role in the pathogenesis of another Candida pathogen, C. albicans, but the ALS family that were expanded in the latter is not over-represented In the sequenced C. auris genomes2, raising the question of whether additional adhesin genes exist in this species. To answer this question, we carried out bioinformatic studies as part of the “Introduction to Bioinformatics” course at the University of Iowa, with the goal of identifying putative adhesin gene families in C. auris and its close relatives within the multi-drug resistant (MDR) clade. Based on sequence properties and annotated domains associated with adhesion, we identified two gene families that encode candidate fungal adhesion molecules. Phylogenetic analyses revealed expansion of these families specifically in the MDR clade relative to the C. albicans clade. Motif enrichment analysis revealed a large number of short repeats that are also present in the ALS family but absent in another gene family that does not confer adhesion. Structure predictions for one of the families suggested similarities to known adhesins. Together, our results point to candidate adhesin genes in C. auris that merit further experimental studies.