title: Developmental regulators in Aspergillus fumigatus.
abstract: The filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is the most prevalent airborne fungal pathogen causing severe and usually fatal invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. This fungus produces a large number of small hydrophobic asexual spores called conidia as the primary means of reproduction, cell survival, propagation, and infectivity. The initiation, progression, and completion of asexual development (conidiation) is controlled by various regulators that govern expression of thousands of genes associated with formation of the asexual developmental structure conidiophore, and biogenesis of conidia. In this review, we summarize key regulators that directly or indirectly govern conidiation in this important pathogenic fungus. Better understanding these developmental regulators may provide insights into the improvement in controlling both beneficial and detrimental aspects of various Aspergillus species.
authors.affiliation: School of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hee-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA. jyu1@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Jae-Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000382:microbiology; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012100:Reproduction, Asexual; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins
keywords: Aspergillus fumigatus; asexual development; conidia; regulation; signaling