Bignell Elaine, Cairns Timothy C, Throckmorton Kurt, Nierman William C, Keller Nancy P
Manchester Fungal Infection Group, Institute of Inflammation and Repair, 2.24 Core Technology Facility, Grafton Street, Manchester, M13 9NT, UK.
Department of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Berlin University of Technology, Gustav-Meyer-Allee 25, 13355 Berlin, Germany.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2016 Dec 5;371(1709). doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0023.
Aspergillus fumigatus is a versatile fungus able to successfully exploit diverse environments from mammalian lungs to agricultural waste products. Among its many fitness attributes are dozens of genetic loci containing biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) producing bioactive small molecules (often referred to as secondary metabolites or natural products) that provide growth advantages to the fungus dependent on environment. Here we summarize the current knowledge of these BGCs-18 of which can be named to product-their expression profiles in vivo, and which BGCs may enhance virulence of this opportunistic human pathogen. Furthermore, we find extensive evidence for the presence of many of these BGCs, or similar BGCs, in distantly related genera including the emerging pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of white-nose syndrome in bats, and suggest such BGCs may be predictive of pathogenic potential in other fungi.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'.
烟曲霉是一种适应性很强的真菌，能够成功地在从哺乳动物肺部到农业废弃物等各种环境中生存。它众多的适应性特征包括几十个含有生物合成基因簇（BGCs）的基因位点，这些基因簇能产生生物活性小分子（通常称为次级代谢产物或天然产物），这些小分子根据环境为真菌提供生长优势。在这里，我们总结了目前对这些BGCs的了解——其中18个可以根据产物命名——它们在体内的表达谱，以及哪些BGCs可能增强这种机会性人类病原体的毒力。此外，我们发现有大量证据表明，在包括新出现的病原体——蝙蝠白鼻综合征的病原体毁灭拟裸球壳菌在内的远缘属中，存在许多这些BGCs或类似的BGCs，并表明此类BGCs可能预示着其他真菌的致病潜力。本文是主题为“应对真菌对动物健康、食品安全和生态系统恢复力的新威胁”的特刊的一部分。
