Transcription factors in Candida albicans - environmental control of morphogenesis.

Awareness of Candida albicans as a major human health threat has risen during recent years. Although infections by C. albicans can be relatively mild and superficial, systemic mycoses often occur in immunocompromised patients, or even as a consequence of long-term therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics or of chemotherapy (reviewed by Odds, 1988). Effective antifungal agents which are free of side-effects are urgently needed. There is hope that recently developed techniques of manipulating C. albicans and the sequencing of its genome will lead to a thorough understanding of the virulence and biology of this fungal pathogen, thus offering the possibility of a knowledge-based approach to novel antifungal agents.