title: Response of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Pb01 to stressor agents and cell wall osmoregulators.
abstract: In its attempt to survive, the fungal cell can change the cell wall composition and/or structure in response to environmental stress. The molecules involved in these compensatory mechanisms are a possible target for the development of effective antifungal agents. In the thermodimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis Pb01, the main polymers that compose the cell wall are chitin and glucans. These polymers form a primary barrier that is responsible for the structural integrity and formation of the cell wall. In this study the behaviour of P. brasiliensis was evaluated under incubation with cell wall stressor agents such as Calcofluor White (CFW), Congo Red (CR), Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS), NaCl, KCl, and Sorbitol. Use of concentrations at which the fungus is visually sensitive to those agents helped to explain some of the adaptive mechanisms used by P. brasiliensis in response to cell wall stress. Our results show that 1,3-β-D-glucan synthase (PbFKS1), glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase (PbGFA1) and β-1,3-glucanosyltransferase (PbGEL3)as well as 1,3-β-D-glucan and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues in the cell wall are involved in compensatory mechanisms against cell wall damage.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Campus II, Universidade Federal de Goiás, C.P. 131, 74001 970, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patrícia Kott
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Tomazett
authors.forename: Nadya da Silva
authors.initials: Nda S
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Henrique Leonel
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lenzi
authors.forename: Célia Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: de Almeida Soares
authors.forename: Maristela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D002473:Cell Wall / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009995:Osmosis; D010228:Paracoccidioides / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012492:Salts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012492:Salts