Pleiotropy and epistasis within and between signaling pathways defines the genetic architecture of fungal virulence.

ABSTRACT: Cryptococcal disease is estimated to affect nearly a quarter of a million people annually. Environmental isolates of Cryptococcus deneoformans, which make up 15 to 30% of clinical infections in temperate climates such as Europe, vary in their pathogenicity, ranging from benign to hyper-virulent. Key traits that contribute to virulence, such as the production of the pigment melanin, an extracellular polysaccharide capsule, and the ability to grow at human body temperature have been identified, yet little is known about the genetic basis of variation in such traits. Here we investigate the genetic basis of melanization, capsule size, thermal tolerance, oxidative stress resistance, and antifungal drug sensitivity using quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in progeny derived from a cross bet

SUBMITTER: Roth C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7861560 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature