[Recent advances in the biology of Candida]

There has been enormous progress in our understanding of biological processes in pathogenic Candida species, particularly in the case of C. albicans. Yeast taxonomists have continued to discover the sexual affinities of several members of the genus, although the sexual stage of C. albicans itself remains as elusive as ever. Genetically, C. albicans has been proved to be a diploid with balanced lethal mutations. It is likely to become a popular object of study for transposable genetic elements: recent research in the USA has demonstrated its ability to alter its phenotype at a very high frequency. Phenotypic switching is a property that may be associated with the relative virulence of the species. There is evidence for substantial phenotypic alteration of the cell surface of C. albicans in infected tissues in vivo, which may explain some of the pathological aspects of Candida infection. The best known of the "phenotypic switches" in C. albicans is its ability to transform from budding yeast cells into hyphae. Although the precise mechanisms of this change remains undiscovered, molecular and cell biological approaches to the problem are beginning to reveal many of the processes involved.