Assessing resistance to the echinocandin antifungal drug caspofungin in Candida albicans by profiling mutations in FKS1.

ABSTRACT: Resistance of clinical isolates of Candida albicans to the echinocandin drug caspofungin is slowly emerging and is linked to mutations in short conserved regions in the FKS1 gene. The most prominent changes occurred at the serine 645 position in Fks1p with substitutions of proline, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. An allele-specific real-time PCR molecular-beacon assay was developed for rapid identification of drug resistance by targeting FKS1 mutations. Mutations altering serine 645 were reliably identified in both heterozygous and homozygous states. The molecular-beacon assay was used to evaluate two large collections of spontaneous mutants from separate strains of C. albicans with resistance (MICs, >16 microg/ml) to caspofungin with the goal of understanding the relationship between FKS1 mu

SUBMITTER: Balashov SV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1479158 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature