The Evolution of Candida albicans within the Host Environment

Dear colleagues,

Candida albicans is part of the human microbiota, colonizing mucosal surfaces and interacting with a plethora of microbial species within the body. When the host immunity or the host microbiome are severely altered, C. albicans can flourish and cause disease. During the last 20 years, functional genomics approaches have significantly contributed to our understanding of the mechanistic basis underlying C. albicans’ ability to express commensal versus pathogenic traits. However, how exactly the C. albicans genome and C. albicans’ phenotypic traits evolve within the host, under both physiological and pathological contexts, is still unclear. In addition, on the basis of the assumption that C. albicans has intimately coevolved with humans, many questions remain to be answered, including the natural reservoir of C. albicans, its transmission routes, and the apparent dispensability for colonizing humans. In this Special Issue, we particularly welcome contributions that address the natural evolution of C. albicans within the host and in the environment, including investigations of C. albicans genome dynamics together with the evolution of C. albicans’ commensal/pathogenic traits in the context of human health and disease. We also invite original contributions pertaining to C. albicans population genomics analyses that provide mechanistic insight into the adaptability of C. albicans to the diversity of niches and environments that it encounters.

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• Candida albicans
• natural evolution
• natural reservoir
• transmission
• commensalism
• pathogenicity
• genome dynamics
• population genomics
• epidemiology