RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Rycovska, Adriana A1 Valach, Matus A1 Tomaska, Lubomir A1 Bolotin-Fukuhara, Monique A1 Nosek, JozefYR 2004 T1 Linear versus circular mitochondrial genomes: intraspecies variability of mitochondrial genome architecture in Candida parapsilosis JF Microbiology, VO 150 IS 5 SP 1571 OP 1580 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26988-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2080, AB The yeast species Candida parapsilosis, an opportunistic pathogen, exhibits genetic and genomic heterogeneity. To assess the polymorphism at the level of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the organization of the mitochondrial genome in strains belonging to the three variant groups of this species was investigated. Although these analyses revealed a group-specific restriction fragment pattern of mtDNA, strains belonging to different groups appear to have similar genes in the same gene order. An extensive survey of C. parapsilosis isolates uncovered surprising alterations in the molecular architecture of their mitochondrial genome. A screening strategy for strains harbouring mtDNA with rearranged architecture showed that nearly all strains from groups I and III possess linear mtDNA molecules terminating with arrays of tandem repeat units, while most of the group II strains have a circular mitochondrial genome. In addition, it was found that linear genophores in mitochondria of strains from different groups differ in the sequence of the mitochondrial telomeric repeat unit. The occurrence of altered forms of mtDNA among C. parapsilosis strains opens up the unique possibility to address questions concerning the evolutionary origin and replication strategy of linear and circular genomes in mitochondria., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26988-0