Project description:spaA is a Cud-type transcription factor that is essential for spore cell differentiation of Dictyostelium discoideum, a social amoeba. ChIP-seq was performed to identify spaA target genes.
Project description:The “Amoeboid Predator-Fungal Animal Virulence Hypothesis” posits that interactions with environmental phagocytes shape the evolution of virulence traits in fungal pathogens. In this hypothesis, selection to avoid predation by amoeba inadvertently selects for traits that contribute to fungal escape from phagocytic immune cells. Here, we investigate this hypothesis in the human fungalpathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus deneoformans. Applying quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and comparative genomics, we discovered a cross-species QTL region that is responsible for variation in resistance to amoeba predation. In C. neoformans, this same QTL was found to have pleiotropic effects on melanization, an established virulence factor. Through fine mapping and population genomic comparisons, we identified the gene encoding the transcription factor BZP4 that underlies this pleiotropic QTL and we show that decreased expression of this gene reduces melanization and increases susceptibility to amoeba predation. Despite the joint effects of BZP4 on amoeba resistance and melanin production, we find no relationship between BZP4 genotype and escape from macrophages or virulence in murine models of disease. Our findings provide new perspectives on how microbial ecology shapes the genetic architecture of fungal virulence, and suggests the need for more nuanced models for the evolution of pathogenesis that account for the complexities of both microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions.
Project description:The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is vulnerable to infection by the pathogen that causes Legionnaire's Disease, Legionella pneumophila. Dictystelium cells lacking the dual-specificity phospahatase DupA are at least partially resistant to infection, and strikingly the expression profile of uninfected dupA null cells mirrors the profile of infected wild-type cells to a considerable extent. This suggests that DupA has a key role in regulating host defence systems.
Project description:This project investigated the effect of Cln3-deficiency on protein secretion in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum by performing LC-MS/MS on conditioned media harvested from starved WT and cln3- cells.
