Fungal Pathogen Shows Profound Effects from Spaceflight

At Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Cheryl Nickerson and her team have been investigating the intriguing effects of spaceflight on microbial pathogens.

In a new paper appearing in the current issue of the journal PLOS ONE, the team reports their recent work examining spaceflight-induced responses in, and infectious disease potential of, the fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Lead author Aurélie Crabbé joins a multi-institute collaborative research team in this study, which represents the first global gene expression profiling and phenotypic characterization of a fungal pathogen during spaceflight.