CO2 SENSING IN ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS

Márcia Eliana da Silva Ferreira

All Papers

Submission

Paper Title

CO2 SENSING IN ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS

Authors

Márcia Eliana da Silva Ferreira

Modality

Abstract

Subject area

Stress in fungal pathogenesis

Publishing Date

15/05/2019

Country of Publishing

Brasil

Language of Publishing

en-US

Paper Page

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/isfus/161688-co2-sensing-in-aspergillus-fumigatus

ISBN

978-85-5722-210-6

Keywords

Aspergillus fumigatus, CO2 sensing, virulence

Summary

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) is 0.033% in the environment and can reach up to 5% in the host (about 150-fold higher). Thus, during the infection process, Aspergillus fumigatus must adapt to different CO2 levels. Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are ubiquitous enzymes, found in all organisms, that catalyse the reversible hydration of CO2 to bicarbonate (HCO3-), to maintain efficient CO2/HCO3- homeostasis. CO2 sensing and metabolism via CAs play important roles in the proliferation, survival and differentiation of diverse pathogenic fungi infecting human hosts. A. fumigatus has four CA-encoding genes, named cafA-D. cafA and cafB are constitutive and strongly expressed, whereas cafC and cafD are weakly expressed, but CO2-inducible genes. Only the double mutant ?cafA?cafB is unable to grow at 0.033% CO2, and this growth defect can be restored by high CO2 concentrations (5%). A. fumigatus ?cafA, ?cafB, ?cafC, ?cafD, and ?cafA?cafB mutant strains are fully virulent in a low-dose murine infection, suggesting that the CAs are not required for development and virulence of the A. fumigatus in the mammalian host. On the other hand, this fungus modifies the expression of some genes when it is transferred from an atmosphere of 0.033% CO2 to one of 5% CO2 (data not published), suggesting the importance of these genes to the virulence of A. fumigatus. The cipC gene (Afu5g09330) is involved in this adaptation process and is important for the virulence of A. fumigatus, making it a target for study of new therapies to treat invasive aspergillosis. Other genes, such as those encoding tyrosinase (Afu3g01070), HMG-CoA synthase (Afu8g07210), sugar transporter family protein (Afu7g05550), aldo-keto reductase putative (Afu4g11260), flavin-binding monooxygenase (Afu3g15050), oxidoreductase (Afu2g00750), and alpha 1,3-glucanase/mutanase (Afu1g03352), also had their expression altered when A. fumigatus was transferred to 5% CO2; however, the importance of these genes to the virulence has not been established yet.

Title of the Event: III International Symposium on Fungal Stress – ISFUS
City of the Event: São José dos Campos
Title of the Proceedings of the event: Annals of the International Symposium on Fungal Stress – ISFUS
Name of the Publisher: Even3
Means of Dissemination: Meio Digital

How to cite

FERREIRA, Márcia Eliana da Silva. CO2 SENSING IN ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS.. In: Annals of the International Symposium on Fungal Stress – ISFUS. Anais...São José dos Campos(SP) Hotel Nacional Inn, 2019. Available in: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/ISFUS/161688-CO2-SENSING-IN-ASPERGILLUS-FUMIGATUS. Access in: 03/04/2026