Identification and deletion of Tft1, a predicted glycosyltransferase necessary for cell wall β-1,3;1,4-glucan synthesis in Aspergillus fumigatus.

ABSTRACT: Aspergillus fumigatus is an environmental mold that causes severe, often fatal invasive infections in immunocompromised patients. The search for new antifungal drug targets is critical, and the synthesis of the cell wall represents a potential area to find such a target. Embedded within the main β-1,3-glucan core of the A. fumigatus cell wall is a mixed linkage, β-D-(1,3;1,4)-glucan. The role of this molecule or how it is synthesized is unknown, though it comprises 10% of the glucans within the wall. While this is not a well-studied molecule in fungi, it has been studied in plants. Using the sequences of two plant mixed linkage glucan synthases, a single ortholog was identified in A. fumigatus (Tft1). A strain lacking this enzyme (tft1Δ) was generated along with revertant strains containin

SUBMITTER: Samar D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4344333 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature