Yu Qi-Kun, Han Lian-Tao, Wu Yu-Juan, Liu Tong-Bao
State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Microsporidia Infection and Control, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Microorganisms. 2020 Nov 4;8(11):1730. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8111730.
is a basidiomycete human fungal pathogen causing lethal meningoencephalitis, mainly in immunocompromised patients. Oxidoreductases are a class of enzymes that catalyze redox, playing a crucial role in biochemical reactions. In this study, we identified one oxidoreductase-like protein-encoding gene and investigated its role in the sexual reproduction and virulence of . Gene expression patterns analysis showed that the gene was expressed in each developmental stage of , and the Olp1 protein was located in the cytoplasm of cells. Although it produced normal major virulence factors such as melanin and capsule, the Δ mutants showed growth defects on the yeast extract peptone dextrose (YPD) medium supplemented with lithium chloride (LiCl) and 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). The fungal mating analysis showed that Olp1 is also essential for fungal sexual reproduction, as Δ mutants show significant defects in hyphae growth and basidiospores production during bisexual reproduction. The fungal nuclei imaging showed that during the bilateral mating of Δ mutants, the nuclei failed to undergo meiosis after fusion in the basidia, indicating that Olp1 is crucial for regulating meiosis during mating. Moreover, Olp1 was also found to be required for fungal virulence in , as the Δ mutants showed significant virulence attenuation in a murine inhalation model. In conclusion, our results showed that the oxidoreductase-like protein Olp1 is required for both fungal sexual reproduction and virulence in .
是一种担子菌属人类真菌病原体，主要导致免疫功能低下患者发生致命性脑膜脑炎。氧化还原酶是一类催化氧化还原反应的酶，在生化反应中起关键作用。在本研究中，我们鉴定了一个类似氧化还原酶的蛋白质编码基因，并研究了其在[具体真菌名称]的有性生殖和毒力中的作用。基因表达模式分析表明，该基因在[具体真菌名称]的每个发育阶段均有表达，且Olp1蛋白位于[具体真菌名称]细胞的细胞质中。尽管其产生了正常的主要毒力因子，如黑色素和荚膜，但Δ突变体在添加氯化锂（LiCl）和5-氟胞嘧啶（5-FC）的酵母提取物蛋白胨葡萄糖（YPD）培养基上生长存在缺陷。真菌交配分析表明，Olp1对真菌有性生殖也至关重要，因为Δ突变体在双性生殖过程中的菌丝生长和担孢子产生存在显著缺陷。真菌细胞核成像显示，在Δ突变体的双边交配过程中，细胞核在担子中融合后未能进行减数分裂，这表明Olp1在交配过程中对调节减数分裂至关重要。此外，还发现Olp1对[具体真菌名称]的真菌毒力也是必需的，因为Δ突变体在小鼠吸入模型中显示出显著的毒力减弱。总之，我们的结果表明，类似氧化还原酶的蛋白质Olp1对[具体真菌名称]的真菌有性生殖和毒力均是必需的。
