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Eukaryotic Cell, October 2008, p. 1724-1732, Vol. 7, No. 10
1535-9778/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00157-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Asexual Pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus Expresses Functional Determinants of Aspergillus nidulans Sexual Development{triangledown}

Verena Große1 and Sven Krappmann2*

Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany,1 Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany2

Received 6 May 2008/ Accepted 19 August 2008

The major fungal pathogen of humans, Aspergillus fumigatus, lacks a defined sexual cycle, although the presence of genes encoding putative mating type idiomorphs and regulators of Aspergillus sexual development heightens the potential for cryptic sexuality in this deuteromycete. To test the functionality of these genetic determinants, we transferred the alpha box-encoding mat1-1 idiomorph from an A. fumigatus isolate to the homothallic fertile species Aspergillus nidulans. Abundant formation of fruiting bodies (cleistothecia) containing viable ascospores establishes functionality of this mating type gene product in the transgenic strain. Using a similar approach, we also established that the conserved transcriptional regulator from A. fumigatus, the nsdD gene product, can act as a functional, positively acting factor for A. nidulans cleistothecium development; moreover, high-level expression of NsdD in the endogenous host A. fumigatus profoundly alters hyphal development by triggering the formation of coiled hyphae. Our findings demonstrate that the presumably asexual pathogen A. fumigatus encodes functional regulators of mating and sexual development, thereby potentiating the case for cryptic sexuality in this fungal pathogen.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg, Young Investigator Group 2, Röntgenring 11, D-97070 Würzburg, Germany. Phone: 0049-931-312153. Fax: 0049-931-312578. E-mail: sven.krappmann{at}uni-wuerzburg.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 August 2008.

Eukaryotic Cell, October 2008, p. 1724-1732, Vol. 7, No. 10
1535-9778/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00157-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Wong, K. H., Hynes, M. J., Todd, R. B., Davis, M. A. (2009). Deletion and overexpression of the Aspergillus nidulans GATA factor AreB reveals unexpected pleiotropy. Microbiology 155: 3868-3880 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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