A deadly, drug-resistant fungus has reached Antarctica, and it's evolving at hyper-speed thanks to some "mutator" genes.
bioRxiv · March 13, 2026 · 10.64898/2026.03.13.711634
Why it matters
This is the first isolation of this critical global pathogen from Antarctica. The study reveals that the fungus uses a 'mutator phenotype' to radically accelerate its own evolution, explaining how it emerged nearly simultaneously on multiple continents with high drug resistance.
From the abstract
Candida (Candidozyma) auris is a critical priority fungal pathogen that emerged two decades ago near simultaneously on multiple continents. Since emergence, C. auris resistance to all four classes of antifungal drugs has been described, including pan-drug resistant isolates, sometimes evolving in-patient. Here, we confirm the first isolation of C. auris from Antarctica and show cold-adapted phenotypes and an affinity for binding to nylon. We also provide evidence to suggest mutator phenotypes co