Comparison of extracellular phospholipase activities in clinical and environmental Aspergillus fumigatus isolates.
Extracellular phospholipase production by environmental and clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus collected from several centres world-wide were compared. All isolates produced extracellular phospholipases which included phospholipase C and a phospholipid acyl hydrolase (phospholipase A and/or phospholipase B) activity. Clinical isolates of A. fumigatus produced the largest zone sizes in a diffusion assay and clinical isolates produced more extracellular phospholipase C than environmental isolates. However, environmental isolates of A. fumigatus showed increased acyl hydrolase activity compared to clinical isolates of A. fumigatus. This study suggests that extracellular phospholipase C activity, but not extracellular acyl hydrolase activity may be important in the pathogenicity of A. fumigatus.
University of Manchester, Department of Medicine, Hope Hospital, Salford, UK.
Mike
M
Birch
David W
DW
Denning
Geoffrey D
GD
Robson
D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008245:Lysophospholipase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010743:Phospholipids; D010738:Type C Phospholipases / Q000378:metabolism*
D010743:Phospholipids; D008245:Lysophospholipase; D010738:Type C Phospholipases