title: Cell wall alpha1-3glucans induce the aggregation of germinating conidia of Aspergillus fumigatus.
abstract: The germination of Aspergillus fumigatus conidia can be divided into four stages: breaking of dormancy, isotropic swelling, establishment of cell polarity, and formation of a germ tube. Swelling of conidia is associated in liquid medium with a multi-cellular aggregation that produced large clumps of conidia. Conidial aggregation can be specifically prevented by the addition of alpha1-3glucanase. Swollen conidia specifically adhere to insoluble alpha1-3glucan chains. Electron microscopy studies showed that cell wall alpha1-3glucan chains became exposed at the cell surface during the swelling. These results demonstrate that cell wall alpha1-3glucans play an essential role in the aggregation between swollen conidia. Experiments with alpha1-3glucan coated latex beads show that alpha1-3glucan chains interacted between them without the requirement of any other cell wall component suggesting that biophysical properties of alpha1-3glucans are solely responsible for conidial aggregation.
authors.affiliation: Unité des Aspergillus, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France. tfontain@pasteur.fr
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fontaine
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beauvais
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loussert
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thevenard
authors.forename: Claus C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Fulgsang
authors.forename: Naohito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clavaud
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Prevost
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Latgé
mesh_terms: D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry*; D005936:Glucans / Q000378:metabolism*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D005936:Glucans; C045788:alpha-1,3-glucan