Histoplasma hairpins herald hopefulness.
Histoplasma capsulatum is a significant respiratory and systemic fungal pathogen. Although many molecular tools have been developed, the fulfillment of Koch's postulates to determine gene function has been hampered by obstacles to homologous gene targeting. Because H. capsulatum displays a considerable array of virulence mechanisms and has a 40-Mb genome that is currently being sequenced, the capability to perform high-throughput molecular manipulations would clearly be beneficial. Recent demonstration and application of experimental RNA interference (RNAi) technology promises a major contribution to advances in this area.
Woods
Jon P
JP
Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of Wisconsin Medical School, 1300 University Avenue, 420 SMI, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1532 WI, USA. jpwoods@wisc.edu
D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D006658:Histoplasma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D034622:RNA Interference / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence