Calcineurin target CrzA regulates conidial germination, hyphal growth, and pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus.

ABSTRACT: The calcineurin pathway is a critical signal transduction pathway in fungi that mediates growth, morphology, stress responses, and pathogenicity. The importance of the calcineurin pathway in fungal physiology creates an opportunity for the development of new antifungal therapies that target this critical signaling pathway. In this study, we examined the role of the zinc finger transcription factor Crz1 homolog (CrzA) in the physiology and pathogenicity of the opportunistic human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Genetic replacement of the crzA locus in A. fumigatus resulted in a strain with significant defects in conidial germination, polarized hyphal growth, cell wall structure, and asexual development that are similar to but with differences from defects seen in the A. fumigatus Del

SUBMITTER: Cramer RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2446674 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature