Candida Yeast Life Cycle

Although it is commonly a part of normal human microflora, the fungus Candida albicans can infect human skin, the mouth or the vaginal tract. It is a dimorphic species, meaning that it can grow either as a yeast or in hyphal form, depending on environmental conditions.

Sexual Reproduction

• Candida seems to have most of the genes required for sexual reproduction. Experiments suggest that Candida can be induced to mate under laboratory conditions, but there is currently no evidence that this is of any significance in the natural life cycle of the fungus.

Asexual Reproduction

• The primary mode of reproduction in C. albicans is by the budding of yeast cells. Mother cells give rise to daughter cells, which are released to repeat the budding cycle.

Formation of Psuedohyphae

• Candida can switch from growing strictly as a budding yeast to a filamentous form characterized by pseudohyphae. Pseudohyphae look like highly elongated yeast cells linked together end to end.

Formation of True Hyphae

• Although the yeast and pseudohyphal phases are more prevalent, Candida can produce true hyphae with septa and parallel walls that are merely elongated yeast cells (which have constrictions at the cell junctions).

Chlamydospores

• Some Candida species can form enlarged, rounded, thick-walled resting cells called chlamydospores, which arise between segments of pseudohyphae. They are specialized for surviving stressful environmental conditions and will germinate when conditions are more favorable.