Chromosome copy number variation in Cryptococcus neoformans influences virulence and occurs in isolates from AIDS patients
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Cryptococcus neoformans
SUBMITTER: Guanggan Hu
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-29675 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
Similar Datasets
Project description:The adaptation of fungal pathogens to the host environment via large-scale genomic changes is a poorly characterized phenomenon. We recently discovered clinical strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, the leading cause of fungal meningoencephalitis in HIV/AIDS patients, which are disomic for chromosome 13. In the current study, we examined the relationship between disomy, expression of the virulence factor melanin and virulence in a mouse model of cryptococcosis. We found that melanin production was correlated with monosomy at chromosome 13, and that disomic variants were less melanized and attenuated for virulence in mice. Changes in the copy number of other chromosomes were also detected in strains showing variation in melanin formation after growth in culture and after passage through mice. A survey of environmental and clinical isolates maintained in culture revealed few occurrences of disomic chromosomes. However, an examination of isolates that were freshly collected from the cerebral spinal fluid of AIDS patients and minimally cultured provided evidence for mixed infections and copy number variation. Overall, these results suggest that the genome of C. neoformans exhibits a greater degree of plasticity than previously appreciated. Importantly, genome variation is associated with virulence factor expression and disease severity, and its occurrence in isolates from AIDS patients suggests that it may have clinical relevance. Genome comparison of CBS7779 black and white strains vs standard strain H99
2011-05-30 | E-GEOD-29627 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The adaptation of fungal pathogens to the host environment via large-scale genomic changes is a poorly characterized phenomenon. We recently discovered clinical strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, the leading cause of fungal meningoencephalitis in HIV/AIDS patients, which are disomic for chromosome 13. In the current study, we examined the relationship between disomy, expression of the virulence factor melanin and virulence in a mouse model of cryptococcosis. We found that melanin production was correlated with monosomy at chromosome 13, and that disomic variants were less melanized and attenuated for virulence in mice. Changes in the copy number of other chromosomes were also detected in strains showing variation in melanin formation after growth in culture and after passage through mice. A survey of environmental and clinical isolates maintained in culture revealed few occurrences of disomic chromosomes. However, an examination of isolates that were freshly collected from the cerebral spinal fluid of AIDS patients and minimally cultured provided evidence for mixed infections and copy number variation. Overall, these results suggest that the genome of C. neoformans exhibits a greater degree of plasticity than previously appreciated. Importantly, genome variation is associated with virulence factor expression and disease severity, and its occurrence in isolates from AIDS patients suggests that it may have clinical relevance. Genome comparison of clinal and environmental strains vs standard strain H99
2011-05-31 | E-GEOD-29671 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Chromosome copy number variation in Cryptococcus neoformans influences virulence and occurs in isolates from AIDS patients
| PRJNA138923 | ENA
Project description:The adaptation of fungal pathogens to the host environment via large-scale genomic changes is a poorly characterized phenomenon. We recently discovered clinical strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, the leading cause of fungal meningoencephalitis in HIV/AIDS patients, which are disomic for chromosome 13. In the current study, we examined the relationship between disomy, expression of the virulence factor melanin and virulence in a mouse model of cryptococcosis. We found that melanin production was correlated with monosomy at chromosome 13, and that disomic variants were less melanized and attenuated for virulence in mice. Changes in the copy number of other chromosomes were also detected in strains showing variation in melanin formation after growth in culture and after passage through mice. A survey of environmental and clinical isolates maintained in culture revealed few occurrences of disomic chromosomes. However, an examination of isolates that were freshly collected from the cerebral spinal fluid of AIDS patients and minimally cultured provided evidence for mixed infections and copy number variation. Overall, these results suggest that the genome of C. neoformans exhibits a greater degree of plasticity than previously appreciated. Importantly, genome variation is associated with virulence factor expression and disease severity, and its occurrence in isolates from AIDS patients suggests that it may have clinical relevance.
2011-06-01 | GSE29671 | GEO
Project description:The adaptation of fungal pathogens to the host environment via large-scale genomic changes is a poorly characterized phenomenon. We recently discovered clinical strains of Cryptococcus neoformans, the leading cause of fungal meningoencephalitis in HIV/AIDS patients, which are disomic for chromosome 13. In the current study, we examined the relationship between disomy, expression of the virulence factor melanin and virulence in a mouse model of cryptococcosis. We found that melanin production was correlated with monosomy at chromosome 13, and that disomic variants were less melanized and attenuated for virulence in mice. Changes in the copy number of other chromosomes were also detected in strains showing variation in melanin formation after growth in culture and after passage through mice. A survey of environmental and clinical isolates maintained in culture revealed few occurrences of disomic chromosomes. However, an examination of isolates that were freshly collected from the cerebral spinal fluid of AIDS patients and minimally cultured provided evidence for mixed infections and copy number variation. Overall, these results suggest that the genome of C. neoformans exhibits a greater degree of plasticity than previously appreciated. Importantly, genome variation is associated with virulence factor expression and disease severity, and its occurrence in isolates from AIDS patients suggests that it may have clinical relevance.
2011-05-31 | GSE29627 | GEO
Project description:Chromosome copy number variation in Cryptococcus neoformans influences virulence and occurs in isolates from AIDS patients: clinal and environmental strains
| PRJNA153841 | ENA
Project description:Chromosome copy number variation in Cryptococcus neoformans influences virulence and occurs in isolates from AIDS patients: CBS7779 black and white strains
| PRJNA153833 | ENA
Project description:Background: The pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans causes life-threatening meningoencephalitis in individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS. The cyclic-AMP/protein kinase A (PKA) signal transduction pathway regulates the production of extracellular virulence factors in C. neoformans, but the influence of the pathway on the secretome has not been investigated. In this study, we performed quantitative proteomics using galactose-inducible and glucose-repressible expression of the PKA1 gene encoding the catalytic subunit of PKA to identify regulated proteins in the secretome. Results: We identified 61 secreted proteins and found that changes in PKA1 expression influenced the extracellular abundance of five proteins, including the Cig1 and Aph1 proteins with known roles in virulence. We also observed a change in the secretome profile upon induction of Pka1 from proteins primarily involved in catabolic and metabolic processes to an expanded set that included proteins for translational regulation and the response to stress. We further characterized the secretome data using enrichment analysis and by predicting conventional versus non-conventional secretion. Targeted proteomics of the Pka1-regulated proteins allowed us to identify the secreted proteins in lysates of phagocytic cells containing C. neoformans, and in samples from infected mice. This analysis also revealed that modulation of PKA1 expression influences the intracellular survival of cryptococcal cells upon phagocytosis. Conclusions: Overall, we found that the cAMP/PKA pathway regulates specific components of the secretome including proteins that affect the virulence of C. neoformans. The detection of secreted cryptococcal proteins from infected phagocytic cells and tissue samples suggests their potential utility as biomarkers of infection.
2015-10-13 | PXD002731 | Pride
Project description:Rho-GDP dissociation inhibitors (RDI) are repressors of Rho-type monomeric GTPases that allow for precise control of their target processes, e.g. cytoskeletal arrangement, vesicle trafficking, and polarized growth. In the human pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans, maintenance of normal cell morphology is vital for pathogenicity. We identified and deleted the gene encoding an RDI homolog in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans and investigated its impact on pathogenicity in animal models of cryptococcosis. Rdi1 deletion resulted in altered vacuole size in tissue culture medium, with corresponding alterations in expression of vesicle trafficking related genes. The rdi1∆ mutant strain showed reduced intracellular survival in macrophages, and severe attenuation of virulence in murine models of cryptococcosis. This reduction in virulence of the rdi1 mutant occurs in the absence of major defects in growth, morphology, or classical virulence-associated phenotypes. Keywords: mutant response, macrophage co-culture
2009-05-28 | GSE8688 | GEO