Discovery of a Sexual Cycle in Aspergillus lentulus, a Close Relative of A. fumigatus

Swilaiman, Sameira S.; O’Gorman, Céline M.; Balajee, S. Arunmozhi; Dyer, Paul S.

doi:10.1128/ec.00040-13

Cited by 41 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…(Table 3). Intraspecific mating was observed between several A. lentulus strains of the opposite mating type, confirming the functional heterothallism of this species (9). Analysis of 8-week-old crosses between CM-5027 and CM-5563, the most fertile A. lentulus isolates, revealed abundant cleistothecia in the junction zones of the two opposite mating type strains.…”

Section: Genetic and Biological Species In Section Fumigatisupporting

confidence: 62%

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Genetic Relatedness versus Biological Compatibility between Aspergillus fumigatus and Related Species

et al. 2014

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e Aspergillus section Fumigati contains 12 clinically relevant species. Among these Aspergillus species, A. fumigatus is the most frequent agent of invasive aspergillosis, followed by A. lentulus and A. viridinutans. Genealogical concordance and mating experiments were performed to examine the relationship between phylogenetic distance and mating success in these three heterothallic species. Analyses of 19 isolates from section Fumigati revealed the presence of three previously unrecognized species within the broadly circumscribed species A. viridinutans. A single mating type was found in the new species Aspergillus pseudofelis and Aspergillus pseudoviridinutans, but in Aspergillus parafelis, both mating types were present. Reciprocal interspecific pairings of all species in the study showed that the only successful crosses occurred with the MAT1-2 isolates of both A. parafelis and A. pseudofelis. The MAT1-2 isolate of A. parafelis was fertile when paired with the MAT1-1 isolates of A. fumigatus, A. viridinutans, A. felis, A. pseudoviridinutans, and A. wyomingensis but was not fertile with the MAT1-1 isolate of A. lentulus. The MAT1-2 isolates of A. pseudofelis were fertile when paired with the MAT1-1 isolate of A. felis but not with any of the other species. The general infertility in the interspecies crossings suggests that genetically unrelated species are also biologically incompatible, with the MAT1-2 isolates of A. parafelis and A. pseudofelis being the exception. Our findings underscore the importance of genealogical concordance analysis for species circumscription, as well as for accurate species identification, since misidentification of morphologically similar pathogens with differences in innate drug resistance may be of grave consequences for disease management.

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Section: Genetic and Biological Species In Section Fumigatisupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Recently, heterothallic sexual cycles were discovered in A. lentulus (9) and A. felis (10). Although the sexual state of Aspergillus viridinutans has yet to be found, the presence of the MAT1-1 (11) mating type homolog in the type strain NRRL 4365 suggests heterothallic sexuality.…”

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confidence: 99%

Genetic Relatedness versus Biological Compatibility between Aspergillus fumigatus and Related Species

et al. 2014

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“…A subsequent study, while confirming these aspects of the population genetic structure of A. fumigatus, also found evidence of a genetic barrier to gene flow, suggesting A. fumigatus contained two (or perhaps more) cryptic and morphologically identical species [68]. More recent studies have confirmed the occurrence of a separate sexual species, A. lentulus [71] and have hinted at the existence of further genetic diversity within A. fumigatus sensu stricto.…”

Section: Population Structure Of Azole-resistant Aspergillus Fumigatusmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Five patients had a The Netherlands Figure 2. Phylogenetic analysis of azole-susceptible and -resistant A. fumigatus isolates from UK, The Netherlands, India and Japan [68,71]. Bootstrap analysis using 100 replicated was performed on WGS SNP data to generate a maximum-likelihood phylogeny, with all branches supported to 68% or higher.…”

Section: Clinical Implications Of Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical implications of globally emerging azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus

Meis

Chowdhary

Rhodes

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

256

252

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One contribution of 18 to a discussion meeting issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'. Aspergillus fungi are the cause of an array of diseases affecting humans, animals and plants. The triazole antifungal agents itraconazole, voriconazole, isavuconazole and posaconazole are treatment options against diseases caused by Aspergillus. However, resistance to azoles has recently emerged as a new therapeutic challenge in six continents. Although de novo azole resistance occurs occasionally in patients during azole therapy, the main burden is the aquisition of resistance through the environment. In this setting, the evolution of resistance is attributed to the widespread use of azole-based fungicides. Although ubiquitously distributed, A. fumigatus is not a phytopathogen. However, agricultural fungicides deployed against plant pathogenic moulds such as Fusarium, Mycospaerella and A. flavus also show activity against A. fumigatus in the environment and exposure of non-target fungi is inevitable. Further, similarity in molecule structure between azole fungicides and antifungal drugs results in cross-resistance of A. fumigatus to medical azoles. Clinical studies have shown that twothirds of patients with azole-resistant infections had no previous history of azole therapy and high mortality rates between 50% and 100% are reported in azole-resistant invasive aspergillosis. The resistance phenotype is associated with key mutations in the cyp51A gene, including TR 34 /L98H, TR 53 and TR 46 /Y121F/T289A resistance mechanisms. Early detection of resistance is of paramount importance and if demonstrated, either with susceptibility testing or through molecular analysis, azole monotherapy should be avoided. Liposomal amphotericin B or a combination of voriconazole and an echinocandin are recomended for azole-resistant aspergillosis.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'.

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“…Of these, A. udagawae, A. lentulus, and A. pseudofischeri have been reported more frequently (Padhye et al 1994;Alcazar-Fuoli et al 2008;Alhambra et al 2008;Vinh et al 2009b;Gyotoku et al 2012;Zbinden et al 2012) than the other eight species (Lonial et al 1997;Guarro et al 2002;Yaguchi et al 2007;Alcazar-Fuoli et al 2008;Shivaprakash et al 2009;Vinh et al 2009a;Barrs et al 2013;Malejczyk et al 2013;Pelaez et al 2013;Singh et al 2013). A sexual state (Neosartorya) was described in nine of the 12 pathogenic species in the section Fumigati (Samson et al 2007;O'Gorman et al 2009;Swilaiman et al 2013). It could be that the three asexual species, A. fumisynnematus, A. fumigatiaffinis, and A. novofumigatus, require nonconventional growth conditions to undergo the sexual cycle, as was the case with A. fumigatus (O'Gorman et al 2009).…”

Section: A Fumigatus and Other Pathogenic Members Of Section Fumigatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Aspergillus fumigatus and Related Species

Sugui

Kwon‐Chung

Juvvadi

et al. 2014

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine

195

154

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The genus Aspergillus contains etiologic agents of aspergillosis. The clinical manifestations of the disease range from allergic reaction to invasive pulmonary infection. Among the pathogenic aspergilli, Aspergillus fumigatus is most ubiquitous in the environment and is the major cause of the disease, followed by Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus nidulans, and several species in the section Fumigati that morphologically resemble A. fumigatus. Patients that are at risk for acquiring aspergillosis are those with an altered immune system. Early diagnosis, species identification, and adequate antifungal therapy are key elements for treatment of the disease, especially in cases of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis that often advance very rapidly. Incorporating knowledge of the basic biology of Aspergillus species to that of the diseases that they cause is fundamental for further progress in the field.

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Discovery of a Sexual Cycle in Aspergillus lentulus, a Close Relative of A. fumigatus

Cited by 41 publications

References 66 publications

Genetic Relatedness versus Biological Compatibility between Aspergillus fumigatus and Related Species

Genetic Relatedness versus Biological Compatibility between Aspergillus fumigatus and Related Species

Clinical implications of globally emerging azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus and Related Species

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