Characterisation of mitochondrial haplotypes occurred in a Candida albicans population

The genetic background of mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in Candida albicans was studied by physical and functional mapping of four haplotypes identified recently in a hospital-population. The restriction patterns revealed considerable differences; however, the size of the mitochondrial DNA did not vary significantly. Sequence data demonstrated that size differences arose by short deletions, while restriction fragment length polymorphisms are caused by nucleotide substitutions in single sites. Gene rearrangement could not be detected; nevertheless, the coincidence of nucleotide substitution pattern in the inverted repeat region suggested the occurrence of homologue recombination.