Open AccessThe Asexual Pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus Expresses Functional Determinants of Aspergillus nidulans Sexual Development
Author(s) -
Verena Große,
Sven Krappmann
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
eukaryotic cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1535-9778
pISSN - 1535-9786
DOI - 10.1128/ec.00157-08
Subject(s) - aspergillus nidulans , biology , aspergillus fumigatus , mating type , homothallism , sexual reproduction , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , conidiation , pathogen , mating , virulence , mutant
The major fungal pathogen of humans,Aspergillus fumigatus , lacks a defined sexual cycle, although the presence of genes encoding putative mating type idiomorphs and regulators ofAspergillus sexual development heightens the potential for cryptic sexuality in this deuteromycete. To test the functionality of these genetic determinants, we transferred the alpha box-encodingmat1-1 idiomorph from anA. fumigatus isolate to the homothallic fertile speciesAspergillus nidulans . Abundant formation of fruiting bodies (cleistothecia) containing viable ascospores establishes functionality of this mating type gene product in the transgenic strain. Using a similar approach, we also established that the conserved transcriptional regulator fromA. fumigatus , thensdD gene product, can act as a functional, positively acting factor forA. nidulans cleistothecium development; moreover, high-level expression of NsdD in the endogenous hostA. fumigatus profoundly alters hyphal development by triggering the formation of coiled hyphae. Our findings demonstrate that the presumably asexual pathogenA. fumigatus encodes functional regulators of mating and sexual development, thereby potentiating the case for cryptic sexuality in this fungal pathogen.