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. 2020 Jul 30;6(3):121. doi: 10.3390/jof6030121

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Potential mechanisms for how chromatin state influences anti-fungal resistance in Candida spp. (i) Differences in the accessibility of DNA throughout the genome, dictated by chromatin state, can impact where genetic variation may occur. This means that chromatin may potentially control the availability of specific anti-fungal resistance mutations (green stars). (ii) Phenotypic plasticity allows certain Candida ssp. to display altered phenotypes in response to environmental cues and gives rise to population heterogeneity (indicated by different coloured yeast cells). Phenotypic plasticity relies on the relaxation of barriers that regulate transcription, including chromatin structure, and can result in a transcriptional state that facilitates phenotypic resistance (green yeast cell). (iii) Chromatin structure directly regulates transcription and therefore can influence whether a given resistance mutation is expressed or not. Furthermore, certain anti-fungal resistance mechanisms rely on the overproduction of a normal gene, which can be sensitive to particular chromatin state(s). (Ac = acetyl group).