University of Wisconsin-Madison, MSB, Madison, WI, USA.
Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Dae-Jon, Republic of Korea.
Adv Appl Microbiol. 2015;90:93-107. doi: 10.1016/bs.aambs.2014.09.004. Epub 2014 Nov 12.
Aspergillus fumigatus is one of the most common fungi found in the environment. It is an opportunistic human pathogen causing invasive pulmonary aspergillosis with a high mortality rate in immunocompromised patients. Conidia, the asexual spores, serve as the main dispersal and infection agent allowing entrance of the fungus into the host through the respiratory tract. Therefore, understanding the asexual developmental process that gives rise to the conidia is of great interest to the scientific community and is currently the focus of an immense load of research being conducted. We have been studying the genetic basis that controls asexual development and gliotoxin biosynthesis in A. fumigatus. In this review, we discuss the genetic regulatory system that dictates conidiation in this important fungus by covering the roles of crucial genetic factors from the upstream heterotrimeric G-protein signaling components to the more specific downstream central activators of the conidiation pathway. In addition, other key asexual regulators including the velvet regulators, the Flb proteins and their associated regulatory factors are discussed.
烟曲霉是环境中最常见的真菌之一。它是一种机会性人类病原体，可导致免疫功能低下患者发生侵袭性肺曲霉病，死亡率很高。分生孢子是无性孢子，是真菌通过呼吸道进入宿主的主要传播和感染剂。因此，了解导致分生孢子形成的无性发育过程是科学界非常感兴趣的，目前是大量正在进行的研究的重点。我们一直在研究控制烟曲霉无性发育和产毒麦角素生物合成的遗传基础。在这篇综述中，我们通过涵盖从上游异三聚体 G 蛋白信号成分到更具体的无性发育途径下游中央激活物的关键遗传因素，讨论了决定这种重要真菌分生孢子形成的遗传调控系统。此外，还讨论了其他关键的无性调节因子，包括 velvet 调节因子、Flb 蛋白及其相关调节因子。
