Erg4A and Erg4B Are Required for Conidiation and Azole Resistance via Regulation of Ergosterol Biosynthesis in Aspergillus fumigatus.

ABSTRACT: Ergosterol, a fungus-specific sterol enriched in cell plasma membranes, is an effective antifungal drug target. However, current knowledge of the ergosterol biosynthesis process in the saprophytic human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus remains limited. In this study, we found that two endoplasmic reticulum-localized sterol C-24 reductases encoded by both erg4A and erg4B homologs are required to catalyze the reaction during the final step of ergosterol biosynthesis. Loss of one homolog of Erg4 induces the overexpression of the other one, accompanied by almost normal ergosterol synthesis and wild-type colony growth. However, double deletions of erg4A and erg4B completely block the last step of ergosterol synthesis, resulting in the accumulation of ergosta-5,7,22,24(28)-tetraenol, a prec

SUBMITTER: Long N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5288824 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature