Comparative Genomics of Sibling Species of Associated with Human Chromoblastomycosis.

and are genera of black yeast-like fungi harboring agents of a mutilating implantation disease in humans, along with strictly environmental species. The current hypothesis suggests that those species reside in somewhat adverse microhabitats, and pathogenic siblings share virulence factors enabling survival in mammal tissue after coincidental inoculation driven by pathogenic adaptation. A comparative genomic analysis of environmental and pathogenic siblings of and was undertaken, including assembly of from plant material. The genome size of species varied between 33.39 and 35.23 Mb, and the core genomes of those species comprises almost 70% of the genes. Expansions of protein domains such as glyoxalases and peptidases suggested ability for pathogenicity in clinical agents, while the use of nitrogen and degradation of phenolic compounds was enriched in environmental species. The similarity of carbohydrate-active vs. protein-degrading enzymes associated with the occurrence of virulence factors suggested a general tolerance to extreme conditions, which might explain the opportunistic tendency of sibling species. Virulence was tested in the model and immunological assays were performed in order to support this hypothesis. Larvae infected by environmental had a lower survival. Fungal macrophage murine co-culture showed that induced high levels of TNF-α contributing to macrophage activation that could increase the ability to control intracellular fungal growth although hyphal death were not observed, suggesting a higher level of extremotolerance of environmental species.