Antifungal resistance in pathogenic fungi is a growing global health concern. Non-pathogenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a useful model for studying mechanisms of antifungal resistance that are relevant to understanding the same processes in pathogenic fungi. yEvo high school students used experimental evolution to study antifungal resistance by growing yeast in increasing concentrations of different types of antifungal drugs: azoles and echinocandins.
Echinocandins are a group of medical drugs used to kill disease-causing fungi. Echinocandins kill fungi by blocking enzymes that are needed to make and maintain the cell wall. But, like bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance, fungi can develop resistance to antifungal drugs. In this project, the specific echinocandin drugs caspofungin and micafungin will be used to understand how fungi can become resistant to this drug. By understanding how resistance occurs, we can create possible solutions for treating echinocandin-resistant fungal infections.
Results
Our research on echinocandin resistance is ongoing, but you can view some of the mutations we have found so far on the yEvo mutation browser!
Participants
High school educators: Katherine Johnson at Roosevelt High School, Kelsey Kovarik at The Downtown School, Tim Renz at Tukwila High School, Ryan Skophammer at Westridge School, Dan Shay at North Central HS Institute of Science and Technology, and Eric Strate at Lewis & Clark High School
University Labs: Maitreya Dunham at the University of Washington.