Evolving moldy murderers: Aspergillus section Fumigati as a model for studying the repeated evolution of fungal pathogenicity

Rokas, Antonis; Mead, Matthew E.; Steenwyk, Jacob L.; Oberlies, Nicholas H.; Goldman, Gustavo H.

doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1008315

Cited by 45 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(89 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…4 Ma ago (CI, 590 to 304 Ma ago), the origin of the subphylum Pezizomycotina 407. 7 Ma ago (CI, 631 to 405 Ma ago), and the origin of Taphrinomycotina crown group 530.5 Ma ago (CI, 620 to 417 Ma ago). Notably, the taxonomic placement of all budding yeasts into a single class, Saccharomycetes, whose origin coincides with the origin of the subphylum Saccharomycotina, means that the last common ancestor of this sole class of budding yeasts is much more ancient than those of any of the nine classes (based on current taxon sampling) in the subphylum Pezizomycotina ( fig Comparison of our inferred dates of divergence to recent studies using a few genes (11,13,14) shows that our estimates are generally younger.…”

Section: A Genome-scale Evolutionary Timetree Of the Fungal Phylum Asmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Pezizomycotina subphylum contains more than 82,000 described species in 16 classes ( 1 ), commonly referred to as filamentous fungi. This subphylum contains several major plant and animal pathogens belonging to diverse genera, such as Fusarium and Aspergillus ( 6 , 7 ). Last, the Taphrinomycotina subphylum contains ~140 described species in five classes ( 1 ), commonly referred to as fission yeasts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Genome-scale phylogeny and contrasting modes of genome evolution in the fungal phylum Ascomycota

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ascomycota, the largest and most well-studied phylum of fungi, contains three subphyla: Saccharomycotina (budding yeasts), Pezizomycotina (filamentous fungi), and Taphrinomycotina (fission yeasts). Despite its importance, we lack a comprehensive genome-scale phylogeny or understanding of the similarities and differences in the mode of genome evolution within this phylum. By examining 1107 genomes from Saccharomycotina (332), Pezizomycotina (761), and Taphrinomycotina (14) species, we inferred a robust genome-wide phylogeny that resolves several contentious relationships and estimated that the Ascomycota last common ancestor likely originated in the Ediacaran period. Comparisons of genomic properties revealed that Saccharomycotina and Pezizomycotina differ greatly in their genome properties and enabled inference of the direction of evolutionary change. The Saccharomycotina typically have smaller genomes, lower guanine-cytosine contents, lower numbers of genes, and higher rates of molecular sequence evolution compared with Pezizomycotina. These results provide a robust evolutionary framework for understanding the diversity and ecological lifestyles of the largest fungal phylum.

show abstract

Section: A Genome-scale Evolutionary Timetree Of the Fungal Phylum Asmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-scale phylogeny and contrasting modes of genome evolution in the fungal phylum Ascomycota

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The genus is taxonomically divided into 27 sections ( 3 ). Section Fumigati contains the major human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus ( 4 ) and several so-called cryptic species, such as Aspergillus hiratsukae and Aspergillus felis ( 5 – 7 ), which are morphologically similar but genetically distinct from A. fumigatus . Cryptic species account for over 10% of cases of Aspergillus infection ( 8 ).…”

Section: Announcementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Draft Genome Sequences of Four Aspergillus Section Fumigati Clinical Strains

Santos

Rivero-Menéndez

Steenwyk

et al. 2020

Microbiol Resour Announc

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Aspergillosis is a major health problem, with rapidly evolving epidemiology and new groups of at-risk patients (Patterson et al, 2016). Aspergillosis infections are usually caused by inhalation of airborne asexual spores (conidia) of Aspergillus fumigatus and a few other Aspergillus species (Rokas et al, 2020). Aspergillosis covers a spectrum of diseases (Latgé and Chamilos, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although A. fumigatus is the major etiologic agent of aspergillosis, a few other Aspergillus species, such as Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus nidulans, can also cause infections (Zakaria et al, 2020). While most of these pathogens can be phenotypically easily distinguished, infections can also be caused by Aspergillus species that are morphologically very similar to A. fumigatus (Rokas et al, 2020). These close pathogenic relatives of A. fumigatus are considered sibling species or cryptic species because they are undistinguishable from each other and from A. fumigatus by classical identification methods (Alastruey-Izquierdo et al, 2014); these species vary mostly in their colony growth, robustness of the production of conidia, conidial surface markings, presence and absence of septation in phialides, and maximum growth temperatures (Taylor et al, 2000;Balajee et al, 2005;Katz et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic and Phenotypic Heterogeneity of Clinical Isolates of the Human Pathogens Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus lentulus, and Aspergillus fumigatiaffinis

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fungal pathogens are a global threat to human health. For example, fungi from the genus Aspergillus cause a spectrum of diseases collectively known as aspergillosis. Most of the >200,000 life-threatening aspergillosis infections per year worldwide are caused by Aspergillus fumigatus. Recently, molecular typing techniques have revealed that aspergillosis can also be caused by organisms that are phenotypically similar to A. fumigatus but genetically distinct, such as Aspergillus lentulus and Aspergillus fumigatiaffinis. Importantly, some of these so-called cryptic species are thought to exhibit different virulence and drug susceptibility profiles than A. fumigatus, however, our understanding of their biology and pathogenic potential has been stymied by the lack of genome sequences and phenotypic profiling of multiple clinical strains. To fill this gap, we phenotypically characterized the virulence and drug susceptibility of 15 clinical strains of A. fumigatus, A. lentulus, and A. fumigatiaffinis from Spain and sequenced their genomes. We found heterogeneity in drug susceptibility across species and strains. We further found heterogeneity in virulence within each species but no significant differences in the virulence profiles between the three species. Genes known to influence drug susceptibility (cyp51A and fks1) vary in paralog number and sequence among these species and strains and correlate with differences in drug susceptibility. Similarly, genes known to be important for virulence in A. fumigatus showed variability in number of paralogs across strains and across species. Characterization of the genomic similarities and differences of clinical strains of A. lentulus, A. fumigatiaffinis, and A. fumigatus that vary in disease-relevant traits will advance our understanding of the variance in pathogenicity between Aspergillus species and strains that are collectively responsible for the vast majority of aspergillosis infections in humans.

show abstract

Evolving moldy murderers: Aspergillus section Fumigati as a model for studying the repeated evolution of fungal pathogenicity

Cited by 45 publications

References 44 publications

Genome-scale phylogeny and contrasting modes of genome evolution in the fungal phylum Ascomycota

Genome-scale phylogeny and contrasting modes of genome evolution in the fungal phylum Ascomycota

Draft Genome Sequences of Four Aspergillus Section Fumigati Clinical Strains

Genomic and Phenotypic Heterogeneity of Clinical Isolates of the Human Pathogens Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus lentulus, and Aspergillus fumigatiaffinis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About