Evolution of the complex transcription network controlling biofilm formation in Candida species

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.64682
• Publication Date: 2021-04-07T12:02:57Z
• Authors: Eugenio Mancera; Isabel Nocedal; Stephen Hammel; Megha Gulati; Kaitlin F Mitchell; David R Andes; Clarissa J Nobile; Geraldine Butler; Alexander D Johnson
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 570; Biomedical and clinical sciences; Evolution; QH301-705.5; Science; Microbiology; biofilm; Evolution, Molecular; 03 medical and health sciences; Candida albicans; Genetics; Gene Regulatory Networks; Biology (General); Evolutionary Biology; 0303 health sciences; evolutionary biology; Q; R; Molecular; Health sciences; Biological Sciences; transcriptional evolution; candida parapsilosis; Biological sciences; Biofilms; Medicine; candida albicans; candida tropicalis; Biochemistry and Cell Biology; candida dubliniensis

We examine how a complex transcription network composed of seven ‘master’ regulators and hundreds of target genes evolved over a span of approximately 70 million years. The network controls biofilm formation in several Candida species, a group of fungi that are present in humans both as constituents of the microbiota and as opportunistic pathogens. Using a variety of approaches, we observed two major types of changes that have occurred in the biofilm network since the four extant species we examined last shared a common ancestor. Master regulator ‘substitutions’ occurred over relatively long evolutionary times, resulting in different species having overlapping but different sets of master regulators of biofilm formation. Second, massive changes in the connections between the master regulators and their target genes occurred over much shorter timescales. We believe this analysis is the first detailed, empirical description of how a complex transcription network has evolved.