[12] When grown in a laboratory, Candida appears as large, round, white or cream (albicans means "whitish" in Latin) colonies, which emit a yeasty odor on agar plates at room temperature.

[14] Recent molecular phylogenetic studies show that the genus Candida, as currently defined, is extremely polyphyletic (encompassing distantly-related species that do not form a natural group).

[16] Some species of Candida use a non-standard genetic code in the translation of their nuclear genes into the amino acid sequences of polypeptides.

The alternative translation of the CUG codon in these species is due to a novel nucleic acid sequence in the serine-tRNA (ser-tRNACAG), which has a guanosine located at position 33, 5' to the anticodon.

This genetic code change is the only such known alteration in cytoplasmic mRNA, in both the prokaryotes, and the eukaryotes, involving the reassignment of a sense codon.

[18] Candida are almost universal in low numbers on healthy adult skin[14] and C. albicans is part of the normal flora of the mucous membranes of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and female genital tracts.

In debilitated or immunocompromised patients, or if introduced intravenously (into the bloodstream), candidiasis may become a systemic disease producing abscesses, thrombophlebitis, endocarditis, or infections of the eyes or other organs.

[8][14] Typically, relatively severe neutropenia (low neutrophils) is a prerequisite for Candida to pass through the defenses of the skin and cause disease in deeper tissues; in such cases, mechanical disruption of the infected skin sites is typically a factor in the fungal invasion of the deeper tissues.

[22] C. albicans has been used in combination with carbon nanotubes (CNT) to produce stable electrically conductive bio-nano-composite tissue materials that have been used as temperature-sensing elements.