, 1997; Wirsching et al., 2000, 2001). Aneuploidy has also been associated with the acquisition of drug resistance in many clinical isolates (Selmecki et al., 2006, 2008), such as isochromosome 5L in fluconazole resistance (Selmecki et al., 2008). In addition, mutations leading to the change in the membrane composition, alteration in the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway, and induction in biofilm formation are also correlated to increased resistance to fluconazole (Kelly

et al., 1996; Nolte et al., 1997; Loffler et al., 2000; Chandra et al., 2001). Although the resistance mechanisms have been extensively studied, there are still drug-resistant mechanisms yet to be identified; for example, approximately half of the drug-resistant strains this website have unknown mechanisms of resistance in one collection of clinical isolates (White et al., 2002). Given the importance of Candida spp. in public health and the paucity of systematic analysis on the emergence of drug resistance in fungal pathogens from the evolutionary perspective, in this review, we focus on the existing literature related to population dynamics of C. albicans, the most well-studied Candida spp., in the presence of antifungal agents in in vivo and

in vitro systems. learn more The analysis and discussion based on C. albicans also largely apply to other Candida spp. Clinical isolates from a single patient throughout the course of treatment

offer a unique look at the adaptive evolution of the organism in vivo. However, variables such as the genetic composition and size of the founding fungal pathogen population cannot be controlled in patient studies. In addition, such time-course patient samples are rare and generally only one clone is isolated and analysed at each time point; thus, the amount of population dynamics information that can be gained is limited as it is not possible to determine the population frequency of each allele at each time point, nor is it possible to estimate the time 5-FU manufacturer at which each allele arose in the population. Animal studies involving infecting mice with C. albicans offer control over the initial genotype and size of the fungal population, although the effective size of the population inside the host has yet to be accurately determined. Studies using murine models have looked at the ability of a resistant genotype to dominate the population by varying its’ initial fraction in the infecting population (Andes et al., 2006). Animal models have also been used to determine the emergence of drug resistance using different dosing regimens (Andes et al., 2006).