Aspergillus fumigatus calcium-responsive transcription factors regulate cell wall architecture promoting stress tolerance, virulence and caspofungin resistance.

ABSTRACT: Aspergillus fumigatus causes invasive aspergillosis, the most common life-threatening fungal disease of immuno-compromised humans. The treatment of disseminated infections with antifungal drugs, including echinocandin cell wall biosynthesis inhibitors, is increasingly challenging due to the rise of drug-resistant pathogens. The fungal calcium responsive calcineurin-CrzA pathway influences cell morphology, cell wall composition, virulence, and echinocandin resistance. A screen of 395 A. fumigatus transcription factor mutants identified nine transcription factors important to calcium stress tolerance, including CrzA and ZipD. Here, comparative transcriptomics revealed CrzA and ZipD regulated the expression of shared and unique gene networks, suggesting they participate in both converged and

SUBMITTER: de Castro PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6948819 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature