Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth , Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology and Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, University of California-Riverside , Riverside, California, USA.
mBio. 2023 Aug 31;14(4):e0117123. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01171-23. Epub 2023 Jul 11.
The genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF) frequently leads to chronic lung infections by bacteria and fungi. We identified three individuals with CF with persistent lung infections dominated by () . Whole-genome sequencing analysis of multiple isolates from each infection found evidence for selection for mutants in the gene in all three distinct lung-associated populations. In each population, we found one or two unfixed, non-synonymous mutations in relative to the reference allele found in multiple environmental and clinical isolates including the type strain. Genetic and phenotypic analyses found that all evolved alleles led to loss of function (LOF) of Mrs4, a mitochondrial iron transporter. RNA-seq analyses found that Mrs4 variants with decreased activity led to increased expression of genes involved in iron acquisition mechanisms in both low iron and replete iron conditions. Furthermore, surface iron reductase activity and intracellular iron were much higher in strains with Mrs4 LOF variants. Parallel studies found that a subpopulation of a CF-associated infection also had a non-synonymous LOF mutation in . Together, these data suggest that mutations may be beneficial during chronic CF lung infections in diverse fungi, perhaps, for the purposes of adaptation to an iron-restricted environment with chronic infections. IMPORTANCE The identification of mutations in () and in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) highlights a possible adaptive mechanism for fungi during chronic CF lung infections. The findings of this study suggest that loss of function of the mitochondrial iron transporter Mrs4 can lead to increased activity of iron acquisition mechanisms, which may be advantageous for fungi in iron-restricted environments during chronic infections. This study provides valuable information for researchers working toward a better understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic lung infections and more effective therapies to treat them.
遗传性疾病囊性纤维化(CF)常导致细菌和真菌引起的慢性肺部感染。我们鉴定了三名 CF 患者,他们的肺部感染持续存在,主要由 ()引起。对每个感染的多个分离株进行全基因组测序分析,发现所有三个不同的肺部相关人群中,基因 ()中的突变体选择证据。在每个群体中,我们发现相对于在包括模式株在内的多个环境和临床分离株中发现的参考等位基因,在 中存在一个或两个未固定的非同义突变。遗传和表型分析发现,所有进化的等位基因都导致了线粒体铁转运蛋白 Mrs4 的功能丧失(LOF)。RNA-seq 分析发现,活性降低的 Mrs4 变体导致在缺铁和铁充足条件下,与铁获取机制相关的基因表达增加。此外,具有 Mrs4 LOF 变体的菌株的表面铁还原酶活性和细胞内铁含量要高得多。平行研究发现,CF 相关 ()感染的一个亚群也有一个非 synonymous LOF 突变在 中。总之,这些数据表明,在不同真菌的慢性 CF 肺部感染中,突变可能是有益的,也许是为了适应慢性感染中缺铁的环境。重要性在囊性纤维化(CF)患者的 ()和 中鉴定出 突变,突出了真菌在慢性 CF 肺部感染期间的一种可能的适应性机制。本研究的结果表明,线粒体铁转运蛋白 Mrs4 的功能丧失可导致铁获取机制的活性增加,这可能有利于真菌在慢性感染期间缺铁的环境中生存。这项研究为研究人员提供了有价值的信息,有助于更好地了解慢性肺部感染的发病机制,并开发更有效的治疗方法。
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