title: The three Aspergillus fumigatus CFEM-domain GPI-anchored proteins (CfmA-C) affect cell-wall stability but do not play a role in fungal virulence.
abstract: Fungal cell-wall proteins containing the conserved fungal CFEM domain have been implicated in host-pathogen interactions and virulence. To determine the role of these proteins in the mold pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, we deleted the entire family of three CFEM-containing genes (CfmA-C), singly and in all combinations. We found an additive increase in the susceptibility of the single, double and triple ΔCfm mutants towards the chitin/β-glucan-microfibril destabilizing compounds Congo Red (CR) and Calcofluor White (CFW), indicating that the A. fumigatus CFEM proteins are involved in stabilizing the cell wall. No defects in growth or germination were observed, indicating that CFEM proteins do not have an essential role in the morphogenesis of A. fumigatus. Unlike in Candida albicans, the A. fumigatus CFEM proteins were not implicated in heme uptake or biofilm formation. The ΔTriple-Cfm deletion strain did not exhibit altered virulence in either insect or murine models of infection, suggesting that cell-wall proteins containing the conserved fungal CFEM domain are not a significant virulence factor in A. fumigatus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yakir
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vaknin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yana
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shadkchan
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Levdansky
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morozov
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: nosherov@post.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Osherov
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols
keywords: Aspergillus fumigatus; Biofilm; CFEM domain protein; Fungal cell wall; Heme uptake