Candida albicans is a species of fungus that typically resides in the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other warm-blooded animals. It is also the most common human fungal pathogen, causing a variety of skin and soft tissue infections in healthy people and more virulent invasive and disseminated diseases in patients with compromised immune systems. How this microorganism manages to persist in healthy hosts but also to cause a spectrum of disease states in the immunocompromised host are questions of significant biological interest as well as major clinical and economic importance. In this review, we describe recent developments in population genetics, the mating process, and gene disruption technology that are providing much needed experimental insights into the biology of C. albicans.

中文翻译：

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白色念珠菌的遗传学，一种二倍体人类真菌病原体。

白色念珠菌是一种真菌，通常存在于人类和其他温血动物的胃肠道中。它也是最常见的人类真菌病原体，在健康人群中引起多种皮肤和软组织感染，在免疫系统受损的患者中引起更强的侵袭性和传播性疾病。这种微生物如何设法在健康宿主中持久存在，又如何在免疫功能低下的宿主中引起多种疾病状态，是具有重要生物学意义以及重大临床和经济意义的问题。在这篇综述中，我们描述了种群遗传学，交配过程和基因破坏技术的最新发展，这些研究为白念珠菌的生物学提供了急需的实验见解。