title: [Sexuality and pathogenicity in Aspergillus fumigatus: is there any relationship?].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aspergillus fumigatus, like many other fungal species of clinical relevance, has been traditionally regarded as an asexual organism. However, in last few years several pieces of evidence question this such assumption, suggesting that the sexual state of A. fumigatus may still be undiscovered. These investigations have finally led to the recent discovery of a teleomorph stage of A. fumigatus, which has been named Neosartorya fumigata.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To review the most important findings on A. fumigatus sexuality and discuss the possible implications of such findings on its pathogenicity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A bibliographic search was performed to find the main works that study the sexuality of fungal pathogens and, especially, of A. fumigatus. Moreover, data from our recent investigations in this field were also introduced to the discussion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The existence of a teleomorph for A. fumigatus could have significant clinical repercussions, as sexual reproduction might produce offspring with increased virulence and/or resistance to antifungal agents. In this sense, the results of our investigations suggest the existence of an association between the MAT1-1 mating type and the invasiveness of A. fumigatus isolates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study of the sexual reproduction of the fungal pathogens and its possible relationship with virulence will continue to be a topic of interest during the next years, not only because of its basic interest, but also for the possible clinical repercussions.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España. saperez@vet.ucm.es
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alvarez-Pérez
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alba
authors.forename: Marta E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: García
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000382:microbiology; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D009181:Mycoses / Q000382:microbiology; D055326:Neosartorya / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction; D014774:Virulence