Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, USA.
Departamento de Genetica, Universidad de Cordoba, 14071, Cordoba, Spain.
Commun Biol. 2020 Jan 31;3(1):50. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-0770-2.
Fusarium oxysporum is a cross-kingdom fungal pathogen that infects plants and humans. Horizontally transferred lineage-specific (LS) chromosomes were reported to determine host-specific pathogenicity among phytopathogenic F. oxysporum. However, the existence and functional importance of LS chromosomes among human pathogenic isolates are unknown. Here we report four unique LS chromosomes in a human pathogenic strain NRRL 32931, isolated from a leukemia patient. These LS chromosomes were devoid of housekeeping genes, but were significantly enriched in genes encoding metal ion transporters and cation transporters. Homologs of NRRL 32931 LS genes, including a homolog of ceruloplasmin and the genes that contribute to the expansion of the alkaline pH-responsive transcription factor PacC/Rim1p, were also present in the genome of NRRL 47514, a strain associated with Fusarium keratitis outbreak. This study provides the first evidence, to our knowledge, for genomic compartmentalization in two human pathogenic fungal genomes and suggests an important role of LS chromosomes in niche adaptation.
尖孢镰刀菌是一种跨物种的真菌病原体，可感染植物和人类。据报道，水平转移的谱系特异性（LS）染色体决定了植物病原尖孢镰刀菌中宿主特异性的致病性。然而，人类致病分离株中 LS 染色体的存在和功能重要性尚不清楚。在这里，我们报告了从白血病患者中分离出的一株人致病菌株 NRRL 32931 中存在的四条独特的 LS 染色体。这些 LS 染色体缺乏管家基因，但富含编码金属离子转运蛋白和阳离子转运蛋白的基因。NRRL 32931 LS 基因的同源物，包括铜蓝蛋白的同源物和有助于碱性 pH 响应转录因子 PacC/Rim1p 扩张的基因，也存在于与 Fusarium keratitis 爆发相关的 NRRL 47514 菌株的基因组中。这项研究首次提供了证据，据我们所知，在两个人类致病真菌基因组中存在基因组区室化，并表明 LS 染色体在生态位适应中发挥着重要作用。
