Title

The cryptic sexual strategies of human fungal pathogens.

Authors

Ene, Iuliana V.; Bennett, Richard J.

Abstract

Sexual reproduction is a pervasive attribute of eukaryotic species and is now recognized to occur in many clinically important human fungal pathogens. These fungi use sexual or parasexual strategies for various purposes that can have an impact on pathogenesis, such as the formation of drug-resistant isolates, the generation of strains with increased virulence or the modulation of interactions with host cells. In this Review, we examine the mechanisms regulating fungal sex and the consequences of these programmes for human disease.

Subjects

PATHOGENIC microorganisms; FUNGI; MICROBIAL virulence; SEX (Biology); CRYPTOGAMS

Publication

Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2014, Vol 12, Issue 4, p239

ISSN

1740-1526

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1038/nrmicro3236