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Scientists cannot develop a drug for the deadly pathogen that has killed THOUSANDS in 50 countries because it reproduces sexually to create new strains unlike everyone else that reproduces asexually
- Candida auris infects the bloodstream and can sometimes be fatal
- Scientists cannot develop a drug to combat it because the pathogen reproduces sexually, thereby creating different strains
- Most infectious bacteria reproduce asexually, meaning they create strains that are copies of themselves
In 2009, a deadly pathogen emerged that scientists have yet to fight with drugs, and the reason is that it reproduces sexually.
Most infectious bacteria reproduce asexually, which means they create strains that are copies of themselves — making it possible to make medicines.
However, Candida auris will mate with each other and produce different strains each time.
C. auris causes bloodstream infections, wound infections, and ear infections, and can sometimes be fatal.
It was first discovered in 2009 and has since spread to over 50 countries, with outbreaks reported and thousands dying from fungal infections.
Candida auris will mate with each other, resulting in different strains each time. C. auris causes bloodstream infections, wound infections, and ear infections, and can sometimes be fatal
The study that uncovered why C. auris is multidrug resistant was conducted by researchers at McMaster University, who analyzed nearly 1,300 strains of the pathogen.
The team looked for and confirmed recombination events or sexual activity.
Jianping Xu, a professor in McMaster’s Department of Biology and a researcher at Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats, said in a statement: “Research tells us that this fungus has recombined in the past and can recombine in nature, giving it this enables new genetic variants to be generated fairly quickly.
“It may sound scary, but it’s a double-edged sword. Since we’ve learned that they can recombine in nature, we could potentially replicate the process in the lab, allowing us to much more quickly understand the genetic controls of virulence and drug resistance, and possibly other traits that make it such a dangerous pathogen .
Pictured are four strains of C. airus, showing how different each one is, which is why scientists are unable to develop a drug to combat the pathogen
There are five different clades or lineages of C. airus that are known worldwide.
Clade I has been isolated predominantly from South Asia, Clade II predominantly from East Asia, Clade III predominantly from Africa, Clade IV predominantly from the Americas, and several strains of Clade V from Iran in Central Asia.
“The five groups differ by 20,000 to over 200,000 nuclear genomes, according to the study published in the Computation and Structural Biotechnology Journal.
Canada is one of the countries that has three of the five known distinct lineages, and researchers note that some came from the same hospital.
Xu explains that if one strain becomes resistant to one drug and another strain becomes resistant to another drug, through sexual activity they could produce offspring that are resistant to both drugs.
“Mixing strains in the same hospital, possibly in the same patient, creates an opportunity for them to meet and mate,” he said.
“This study is about sex, and the effects of sex on organisms are often very broad. For fungi, this means they can spread beneficial genes across populations much faster than just through asexual reproduction.”
Little is known about C. auris, which is difficult to identify even in specimens.
But what is known is that those who spend time in care homes or have lines and tubes in their bodies are at a higher risk of infection.
