Since its discovery at the end of the XIX century, Candida albicans has emerged as one of the most important human pathogenic fungi. This yeast efficiently colonizes the gastrointestinal cavity of humans, which is an important source for gastrointestinal-mediated dissemination of the fungus to internal organs under immune suppression. Controlling colonization may therefore lead to the eradication of C. albicans which may, in turn, be a useful strategy in the prevention of candidiasis. Recent studies indicate that colonization is influenced by -and related to-the white opaque (wo) transition, an epigenetic transition that has been shown to mediate several aspects of the biology of this fungus. Efficient mating in C. albicans occurs by a two-step process which involves the conversion to a homozygous mating type cell followed by a transition to the opaque state. The discovery of the opaque cell as the mating competent phase of this fungus provided an interesting evolutionary example of the role of mating in the adaptation to a mammalian host in a pathogenic fungus. A full sexual cycle has not been observed; rather, after mating, return to a diploid state is achieved by concerted chromosome loss, being this an important source of genetic variability for this opportunistic pathogen.

自十九世纪末发现以来，白色念珠菌已成为人类最重要的致病真菌之一。该酵母有效地定居在人的胃肠腔中，这是在免疫抑制下胃肠道将真菌传播到内部器官的重要来源。因此，控制定殖可能导致消灭白色念珠菌，这反过来可能是预防念珠菌病的有用策略。最近的研究表明，定植受白色不透明（wo）过渡的影响，并且与之相关，这种不透明过渡是一种表观遗传的过渡，已被证明可以介导这种真菌的生物学特性。白色念珠菌的有效交配通过两步过程发生细胞分裂，该过程包括向纯合的交配型细胞的转化，然后转变为不透明状态。不透明细胞作为这种真菌的交配感受态的发现提供了一个有趣的进化例子，表明交配在致病性真菌适应哺乳动物宿主中的作用。尚未观察到完整的性周期；相反，在交配后，通过一致的染色体丢失可以恢复二倍体状态，这是该机会病原体遗传变异的重要来源。