Molden is a software package for pre- and postprocessing of computational chemistry program data. Interfacing to the ab initio programs Games-US/UK and Gaussian and to the semi-empirical package MOPAC is provided. The emphasis is on computation and visualization of electronic and molecular properties but, e.g., reaction pathways can be simulated as well. Some molecular properties of interest are processed directly from the output of the computational chemistry programs, others are calculated in MOLDEN before display. The package features different options to display MOLecular electronic DENsity, each focusing on a different structural aspect: molecular orbitals, electron density, molecular minus atomic density and the Laplacian of the electron density. To display difference density, either the spherically averaged atomic density or the oriented ground state atomic density can be used for a number of standard basis sets. The quantum mechanical electrostatic potential or a distributed multiple expansion derived electrostatic potential can be calculated and atomic charges can be fitted to these potentials calculated on Connolly surface(s). Reaction pathways and molecular vibrations can be visualized. Input structures can be generated with a Z-matrix editor. A variety of graphics languages is supported: XWindows, postscript, VRML and Povray format.
BackgroundAzoles play an important role in the management of Aspergillus diseases. Azole resistance is an emerging global problem in Aspergillus fumigatus, and may develop through patient therapy. In addition, an environmental route of resistance development has been suggested through exposure to 14α-demethylase inhibitors (DMIs). The main resistance mechanism associated with this putative fungicide-driven route is a combination of alterations in the Cyp51A-gene (TR34/L98H). We investigated if TR34/L98H could have developed through exposure to DMIs.Methods and FindingsThirty-one compounds that have been authorized for use as fungicides, herbicides, herbicide safeners and plant growth regulators in the Netherlands between 1970 and 2005, were investigated for cross-resistance to medical triazoles. Furthermore, CYP51-protein homology modeling and molecule alignment studies were performed to identify similarity in molecule structure and docking modes. Five triazole DMIs, propiconazole, bromuconazole, tebuconazole, epoxiconazole and difenoconazole, showed very similar molecule structures to the medical triazoles and adopted similar poses while docking the protein. These DMIs also showed the greatest cross-resistance and, importantly, were authorized for use between 1990 and 1996, directly preceding the recovery of the first clinical TR34/L98H isolate in 1998. Through microsatellite genotyping of TR34/L98H isolates we were able to calculate that the first isolate would have arisen in 1997, confirming the results of the abovementioned experiments. Finally, we performed induction experiments to investigate if TR34/L98H could be induced under laboratory conditions. One isolate evolved from two copies of the tandem repeat to three, indicating that fungicide pressure can indeed result in these genomic changes.ConclusionsOur findings support a fungicide-driven route of TR34/L98H development in A. fumigatus. Similar molecule structure characteristics of five triazole DMIs and the three medical triazoles appear the underlying mechanism of cross resistance development. Our findings have major implications for the assessment of health risks associated with the use of triazole DMIs.
Molecular studies have shown that the majority of azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus is associated with amino acid substitutions in the cyp51A gene. To obtain insight into azole resistance mutations, the cyp51A gene of 130 resistant and 76 susceptible A. fumigatus isolates was sequenced. Out of 130 azole-resistant isolates, 105 contained a tandem repeat of 34 bp in the promoter region and a leucine-to-histidine substitution in codon 98 (designated TR/L98H). Additionally, in 12 of these TR/L98H resistant isolates, the mutations S297T and F495I were found, and in 1 isolate, the mutation F495I was found. In eight azole-resistant isolates, known azole resistance mutations were detected in codon G54, G138, or M220. In three azole-susceptible isolates, the mutation E130D, L252L, or S400I was found and in 13 azole-susceptible isolates but also in 1 azole-resistant isolate, the mutations F46Y, G98G, M172V, N248T, D255E, L358L, E427K, and C454C were found. All of the nonsynonymous mutations, apart from the mutations in codons G54, G138, and M220 and L98H, were located at the periphery of the protein, as determined by a structural model of the A. fumigatus Cyp51A protein, and were predicted neither to interact with azole compounds nor to affect structural integrity. Therefore, this wide diversity of mutations in the cyp51A gene in azole-susceptible A. fumigatus isolates is not correlated with azole resistance. Based on the Cyp51A protein homology model, the potential correlation of a mutation to azole resistance can be predicted.
Since the first distribution of Molden in 1995 and the publication of the first article about this software in 2000 work on Molden has continued relentlessly. A few of the many improved or fully novel features such as improved and broadened support for quantum chemistry calculations, preparation of ligands for use in drug design related softwares, and working with proteins for the purpose of ligand docking.
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