(a)Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (b)Centre of Expertise in Mycology, Radboudumc/CWZ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
(a)Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; (b)Centre of Expertise in Mycology, Radboudumc/CWZ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Fungal Genet Biol. 2018 Jul;116:62-72. doi: 10.1016/j.fgb.2018.04.013. Epub 2018 Apr 26.
Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprophytic fungus that extensively produces conidia. These microscopic asexually reproductive structures are small enough to reach the lungs. Germination of conidia followed by hyphal growth inside human lungs is a key step in the establishment of infection in immunocompromised patients. RNA-Seq was used to analyze the transcriptome of dormant and germinating A. fumigatus conidia. Construction of a gene co-expression network revealed four gene clusters (modules) correlated with a growth phase (dormant, isotropic growth, polarized growth). Transcripts levels of genes encoding for secondary metabolites were high in dormant conidia. During isotropic growth, transcript levels of genes involved in cell wall modifications increased. Two modules encoding for growth and cell cycle/DNA processing were associated with polarized growth. In addition, the co-expression network was used to identify highly connected intermodular hub genes. These genes may have a pivotal role in the respective module and could therefore be compelling therapeutic targets. Generally, cell wall remodeling is an important process during isotropic and polarized growth, characterized by an increase of transcripts coding for hyphal growth and cell cycle/DNA processing when polarized growth is initiated.
烟曲霉是一种腐生真菌，广泛产生分生孢子。这些微小的无性繁殖结构小到足以到达肺部。在免疫功能低下的患者中，分生孢子的萌发，随后在肺部的菌丝生长，是建立感染的关键步骤。RNA-Seq 被用于分析休眠和萌发的烟曲霉分生孢子的转录组。构建基因共表达网络揭示了与生长阶段（休眠、各向同性生长、极性生长）相关的四个基因簇（模块）。编码次生代谢物的基因的转录本水平在休眠的分生孢子中较高。在各向同性生长过程中，参与细胞壁修饰的基因的转录本水平增加。编码生长和细胞周期/DNA 处理的两个模块与极性生长相关。此外，共表达网络用于鉴定高度连接的模块间枢纽基因。这些基因在各自的模块中可能具有关键作用，因此可能是有吸引力的治疗靶点。一般来说，细胞壁重塑是各向同性和极性生长过程中的一个重要过程，其特征是在启动极性生长时，编码菌丝生长和细胞周期/DNA 处理的转录本增加。
