TY - JOUR
T1 - The three Aspergillus fumigatus CFEM-domain GPI-anchored proteins (CfmA-C) affect cell-wall stability but do not play a role in fungal virulence
AU - Vaknin, Yakir
AU - Shadkchan, Yana
AU - Levdansky, Emma
AU - Morozov, Michael
AU - Romano, Jacob
AU - Osherov, Nir
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Hubertus Haas and Daniel Kornitzer for helpful discussions and ideas, Galit Kuznets from the Kornitzer lab for assistance in generating recombinant CfmA-CFEM and Don Sheppard for the ΔStuA strain and advice on biofilm analysis. Sampangine was kindly provided by Ameeta Agarwal from the National Center of Natural Products, Mississippi University. This work was supported by Israel Science Foundation (ISF) Grant No. 186/09 to N.O.
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - Fungal cell-wall proteins containing the conserved fungal CFEM domain have been implicated in host-pathogen interactions and virulence. To determine the role of these proteins in the mold pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, we deleted the entire family of three CFEM-containing genes ( CfmA-C), singly and in all combinations. We found an additive increase in the susceptibility of the single, double and triple δ. Cfm mutants towards the chitin/β-glucan-microfibril destabilizing compounds Congo Red (CR) and Calcofluor White (CFW), indicating that the A. fumigatus CFEM proteins are involved in stabilizing the cell wall. No defects in growth or germination were observed, indicating that CFEM proteins do not have an essential role in the morphogenesis of A. fumigatus. Unlike in Candida albicans, the A. fumigatus CFEM proteins were not implicated in heme uptake or biofilm formation. The δTriple. -Cfm deletion strain did not exhibit altered virulence in either insect or murine models of infection, suggesting that cell-wall proteins containing the conserved fungal CFEM domain are not a significant virulence factor in A. fumigatus.
AB - Fungal cell-wall proteins containing the conserved fungal CFEM domain have been implicated in host-pathogen interactions and virulence. To determine the role of these proteins in the mold pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, we deleted the entire family of three CFEM-containing genes ( CfmA-C), singly and in all combinations. We found an additive increase in the susceptibility of the single, double and triple δ. Cfm mutants towards the chitin/β-glucan-microfibril destabilizing compounds Congo Red (CR) and Calcofluor White (CFW), indicating that the A. fumigatus CFEM proteins are involved in stabilizing the cell wall. No defects in growth or germination were observed, indicating that CFEM proteins do not have an essential role in the morphogenesis of A. fumigatus. Unlike in Candida albicans, the A. fumigatus CFEM proteins were not implicated in heme uptake or biofilm formation. The δTriple. -Cfm deletion strain did not exhibit altered virulence in either insect or murine models of infection, suggesting that cell-wall proteins containing the conserved fungal CFEM domain are not a significant virulence factor in A. fumigatus.
KW - Aspergillus fumigatus
KW - Biofilm
KW - CFEM domain protein
KW - Fungal cell wall
KW - Heme uptake
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84892480077&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.fgb.2013.12.005
DO - 10.1016/j.fgb.2013.12.005
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AN - SCOPUS:84892480077
SN - 1087-1845
VL - 63
SP - 55
EP - 64
JO - Fungal Genetics and Biology
JF - Fungal Genetics and Biology
ER -