• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    A search for contingency genes in Candida albicans : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Icon
    View/Open Full Text
    01_front.pdf (104.9Kb)
    02_whole.pdf (4.098Mb)
    Export to EndNote
    Abstract
    Many microbial pathogens have been known to use repeats in their cell wall pro- teins to generate diversity, and this has been found to contribute to their virulence. In bacteria, these genes are called contingency genes, and function to facilitate adap- tation of bacteria to the host environments as they invade di erent host parts and to evade the host's constantly evolving immune system. In the diploid Candida albicans, few genes have been classi ed as contingency genes due to the variation in the length of their repeat regions in di erent clinical isolates. This study attempts to answer a question of whether YWP1, HWP1, and EAP1 of C. albicans are contingency genes. These three genes encode cell wall proteins and contain repeats. For this purposes, allelic distributions of the genes in the general purpose genotype (GPG) and non-GPG strains (two groups with di erent genetic backgrounds), in commensal and infection strains, and in strains isolated from di erent sites of the humans body were examined. Based on the allelic distributions of the genes in GPG and non-GPG strains, it can be inferred that YWP1 and HWP1 can be categorized as contingency genes, while EAP1 cannot be categorized as a contingency gene. The allelic distributions of the genes in commensal and infection strains indicate that YWP1, HWP1, and EAP1 do not act as contingency genes when C. albicans state changes from commensal to pathogenic. Although the allelic distributions of the genes cannot distinguish com- mensal from infection strains, the non-random association between alleles of YWP1, HWP1, and EAP1 does distinguish these two groups, i.e. the YWP1 -HWP1 -EAP1 association is stronger in commensal strains that it is in infection strains. Based on the allelic distribution of the genes in strains isolated from di erent sites of the human body, it can be inferred that YWP1 and EAP1 do not act as contingency genes, but HWP1 may act as a contingency gene, when C. albicans moves to particular sites of the human body.
    Date
    2014
    Author
    Wattimena, Synodalia Chrisma
    Rights
    The Author
    Publisher
    Massey University
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10179/5349
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2023.7-7
     

     

    Information PagesContent PolicyDepositing content to MROCopyright and Access InformationDeposit LicenseDeposit License SummaryTheses FAQFile FormatsDoctoral Thesis Deposit

    Browse

    All of MROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2023.7-7