Comprehensive Annotation of the transcriptome of the human fugal pathogen Candida albicans using RNA-Seq

Candida albicans is the major invasive fungal pathogen of humans, causing diseases ranging from superficial mucosal infections to disseminated, systemic infections which are often life threatening. We have used massively parallel high-throughput sequencing of cDNA (RNA-seq) to generate a high-resolution map of the C. albicans transcriptome under several different environmental conditions. We have quantitatively determined all of the regions that are transcribed under the different conditions and have identified 635 novel transcriptionally active regions (TARs) and numerous novel introns that are not represented in the current genome annotations. Interestingly, the expression of many of these TARs is regulated in a condition-specific manner. This comprehensive transcriptome analysis significantly enhances the current genome annotation of Candida albicans, a necessary framework for a complete understanding of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis for this important eukaryotic pathogen.