EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN PHASE SWITCHING PROCESS EXHIBITED BY CANDIDA ALBICANS.

Candida albicans is a benign member of the normal skin and mucosal flora. The “frenemy” can cause life-threatening illness in an immunocompromised host, hence termed an opportunistic pathogen. The spectrum of disease caused by Candida may range from a simple diaper rash seen in infants to systemic candidiasis in frail patients. Mortality rate of systemic candidiasis reported in different cases were found to be 30-50%. Candida albicans exhibit extreme morphological plasticity which is a vital factor for its virulence. The transition from pseudohyphae to hyphal forms promotes tissue invasion and penetration into tissues. Over the past several decades researchers have worked on several virulence factors of Candida albicans to dissect the mechanism of pathogenicity in the host. The proteome, transcriptome and the genomic analysis have provided insight into the fundamental mechanisms of Candida mediated virulence and pathogenicity. Now they have embarked on revealing the epigenetic tags, which has a profound effect on the virulence of Candida. Epigenetics marks do not involve DNA sequence rather they influence gene expression by modifying the proteins or factors involved in the regulatory process. Hence, this review will throw light on the epigenetic process associated with phase-switching in Candida albicans. The process of phase switching happens to be a novel and less debated mechanism, which forms the crux of this review. Although there are several reports on in vitro and in vivo studies on animal models related to phase switching, this review would principally focus on the process in connection with oral cutaneous candidiasis.