Niche-specific gene expression during C. albicans infection.

Infection by the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans may occur in virtually any organ of the human host. Studies of C. albicans gene expression during experimental infection reveal that different stress responses are mounted during different types of infection, presumably because different environments present different challenges. In addition, at least two mechanisms allow expression of common genes or activities in multiple sites within the host: differential expression of isozymes in a multigene family and regulation of a common set of genes by multiple transcription factors. Thus, analysis of C. albicans gene expression illuminates details of host-pathogen interactions and the differences between sites within the host.