Contribution of ATPase copper transporters in animal but not plant virulence of the crossover pathogen Aspergillus flavus

Abstract

The ubiquitous fungus Aspergillus flavus is notorious for contaminating many important crops and food-stuffs with the carcinogenic mycotoxin, aflatoxin. This fungus is also the second most frequent Aspergillus pathogen after A. fumigatus infecting immunosuppressed patients. In many human fungal pathogens including A. fumigatus, the ability to defend from toxic levels of copper (Cu) is essential in pathogenesis. In A. fumigatus, the Cu-fist DNA binding protein, AceA, and the Cu ATPase transporter, CrpA, play critical roles in Cu defense. Here, we show that A. flavus tolerates higher concentrations of Cu than A. fumigatus and other Aspergillus spp. associated with the presence of two homologs of A. fumigatus CrpA termed CrpA and CrpB. Both crpA and crpB are transcriptionally induced by increasing Cu concentrations via AceA activity. Deletion of crpA or crpB alone did not alter high Cu tolerance, suggesting they are redundant. Deletion of both genes resulted in extreme Cu sensitivity that was greater than that following deletion of the regulatory transcription factor aceA. The ΔcrpAΔcrpB and ΔaceA strains were also sensitive to ROI stress. Compared to wild type, these mutants were impaired in the ability to colonize maize seed treated with Cu fungicide but showed no difference in virulence on non-treated seed. A mouse model of invasive aspergillosis showed ΔcrpAΔcrpB and to a lesser degree ΔaceA to be significantly reduced in virulence, following the greater sensitivity of ΔcrpAΔcrpB to Cu than ΔaceA.

Genome-wide Identification and Function Analysis of HMAD Gene Family in Cotton (Gossypium Spp.)

“…HMAD with anthocyanins related promoter elements highly expressed under Na 2 SO 4 condition, similar to previous study that anthocyanins involved in resistance to salt, at the same time involved in heavy metal transport [60]. On the other hand, the transfer of heavy metals and salt stress are vacuole segregation [70,71], such as the P-type ATP as an important role, can not only balance the salt ions and also can balance of heavy metal ions [72][73][74][75] HMA genes can selectively absorb and transport metal ions [76]. CtpB, as a plasma membrane copper (I) transporting P-type ATPase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is different from copper detoxi cation [77].…”

Cinnamaldehyde, a Promising Natural Preservative Against Aspergillus flavus

“…Fungal infection in corn was investigated using a method described previously with minor modifications (Yang et al, 2018). After the tip of each corn kernel was scratched with a knife, it was immersed in 5% sodium hypochlorite and then placed in a shaker for 10 min.…”

Transcriptome Sequencing Revealed an Inhibitory Mechanism of Aspergillus flavus Asexual Development and Aflatoxin Metabolism by Soy-Fermenting Non-Aflatoxigenic Aspergillus

“…The contamination of A. flavus causes huge economic losses to agricultural production across the world. This fungus is also an opportunistic pathogen for immunocompromised patients, which is the second most common cause of aspergillosis after A. fumigatus [ 3 ]. A. flavus is notorious for its production of one of the most carcinogenic mycotoxins, aflatoxin [ 4 ], which has an extensive relationship with liver cancer [ 5 ].…”