Mayssa Gnaien, Corinne Maufrais, Yasmine Rebai, Aicha Kallel, Laurence Ma, Samia Hamouda, Fatma Khalsi, Khaoula Meftah, Hanen Smaoui, Monia Khemiri, Sondes Hadj Fredj, Sophie Bachellier-Bassi, Imène Najjar, Taieb Messaoud, Khadija Boussetta, Kalthoum Kallel, Helmi Mardassi, Christophe d'Enfert, Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux, Sadri Znaidi
Candida albicans chronically colonizes the respiratory tract of patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). It competes with CF-associated pathogens (e.g. Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and contributes to disease severity. We hypothesize that C. albicans undergoes specific adaptation mechanisms that explain its persistence in the CF lung environment. To identify the underlying genetic and phenotypic determinants, we serially recovered 146 C. albicans clinical isolates over a period of 30 months from the sputum of 25 antifungal-naive CF patients...
April 11, 2024: PLoS Pathogens