Welcome to the Bennett Lab

My laboratory is focused on studying the newly identified sexual cycle of Candida albicans. There are a number of interesting aspects to mating in C. albicans, including the role of 'phenotypic switching', in which cells can reversibly switch their morphology between specialized forms called 'white' and 'opaque'. While white cells are more virulent in models of systemic infection, only opaque forms are competent to mate. We are currently investigating the idea that this unique adaptation has arisen to allow mating to occur in the hostile environment of the mammalian host.

A second unusual feature of the C. albicans sexual cycle is that while mating occurs efficiently, no meiotic pathway has been identified yet. Meiosis is a conserved process in which DNA replication is followed by two successive DNA divisions, effectively halving the DNA content in the cell. In its place, we have discovered that efficient non-meiotic chromosome loss can be induced in C. albicans, thereby completing a simple sexual cycle in the organism. Both the mechanism of chromosome loss and the role of the sexual cycle in infection of the host are under investigation. For example, one model we are presently testing is that the mixing of chromosomes during the mating cycle generates strains with increased genetic diversity. These new strains could contribute directly to virulence by generating bursts of genetic diversity that aid in fitness in infection.

Ball of Candida albicans mating cells and a mating zygote (inset)

Opaque cells of Candida albicans strain WO-1