Fig. 1

Selection Process of Relevant GEO Datasets for Analysis. This flow chart outlines the systematic process of dataset selection from the GEO repository that we used to perform the comprehensive analysis. Initially, 239 records were identified with the keyword ‘Candida albicans’. Excluding studies not employing high-throughput sequencing narrowed down the dataset to 190. A further 14 studies involving species other than C. albicans were eliminated. To ensure statistical robustness, 10 datasets with fewer than 2 repeats were discarded. Technical issues during data downloading and pre-processing led to the exclusion of 11 studies. Among the processed datasets (n = 14), one was excluded during differential expression analysis. The final selection focused solely on SC5314 background strains, resulting in 7 datasets utilized for Gene Ontology (GO) Enrichment analysis. This streamlined selection process ensures the quality and relevance of datasets for the subsequent comprehensive analysis