Roles of the Gene in the Growth and Pathogenicity Regulation of .

() is a filamentous fungus that causes invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised individuals. Regulating fungal growth is crucial for preventing disease development. This study found that deleting the guanine nucleotide exchange factor gene led to slower growth and reduced the fungal burden and mortality of infected mice. However, the mechanism by which this gene affects growth and pathogenicity remains unclear. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the vacuoles of the gene knockout strain accumulated more autophagosomes, indicating inhibition of autophagosome degradation. When phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride was applied to inhibit autophagosome degradation, the strain produced fewer autophagosomes; the autophagy pathway was inhibited, affecting ' nutrient homeostasis and growth. Unlike the wild type, the strain showed strong resistance to cell wall stress. When exposed to caspofungin, negatively regulated the expression of cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway genes and participated in the cell wall stress response of . Furthermore, this gene positively regulated the autophagy pathway and enhanced CWI pathway gene expression to respond to rapamycin-induced autophagy. In summary, positively regulated the autophagy pathway; it negatively regulated the CWI pathway during cell wall stress, coordinating the growth and pathogenicity of .