Phenotypic analysis of genes whose mRNA accumulation is dependent on calcineurin in Aspergillus fumigatus.
Calcineurin plays an important role in the control of cell morphology and virulence in fungi. Calcineurin is a serine/threonine-specific protein phosphatase heterodimer consisting of a catalytic subunit A and a regulatory subunit B. A mutant of Aspergillus fumigatus lacking the calcineurin A (calA) catalytic subunit exhibited defective hyphal morphology related to apical extension and branching growth, which resulted in drastically decreased filamentation. Here, we investigated which pathways are influenced by A. fumigatus calcineurin during proliferation by comparatively determining the transcriptional profile of A. fumigatus wild type and DeltacalA mutant strains. Our results showed that the mitochondrial copy number is reduced in the DeltacalA mutant strain, and the mutant has increased alternative oxidase (aoxA) mRNA accumulation and activity. Furthermore, we identified four genes that encode transcription factors that have increased mRNA expression in the DeltacalA mutant. Deletion mutants for these transcription factors had reduced susceptibility to itraconazole, caspofungin, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS).
Malavazi
Iran
I
Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
da Silva Ferreira
Márcia Eliana
ME
Soriani
Frederico Marianetti
FM
Dinamarco
Taísa Magnani
TM
Savoldi
Marcela
M
Uyemura
Sérgio Akira
SA
Goldman
Maria Helena de Souza
MH
Goldman
Gustavo Henrique
GH
D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000502:physiology*; D019703:Calcineurin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000099188:Alternative Oxidase
D019703:Calcineurin; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000099188:Alternative Oxidase