{"title":"Properties of Putative APSES Transcription Factor AfpA in <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i>.","authors":"Young-Ho Choi, Min-Woo Lee, Kwang-Soo Shin","doi":"10.3390/jof11090678","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> is a major opportunistic pathogenic fungus that causes invasive aspergillosis with high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients. APSES family transcription factors regulate fungal development and virulence, but the function of the putative APSES-type transcription factor AfpA (AFUA_5g11390) remains uncharacterized. To investigate the roles of AfpA in <i>A</i>. <i>fumigatus</i>, we constructed the Δ<i>afpA</i> mutant and performed phenotypic analyses, RT-qPCR analyses, and virulence studies. The Δ<i>afpA</i> mutant exhibited reduced vegetative growth but increased conidiation, with upregulation of asexual developmental regulators <i>brlA</i>, <i>abaA</i>, and <i>wetA</i>. AfpA positively regulated cAMP-PKA signaling, resulting in delayed conidia germination. Furthermore, the mutant responded differently to external stresses and displayed enhanced virulence in neutropenic mice. In conclusion, AfpA functions as a multifaceted regulator balancing growth, development, and pathogenicity in <i>A. fumigatus</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":15878,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fungi","volume":"11 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12470788/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Fungi","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/jof11090678","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
Aspergillus fumigatus is a major opportunistic pathogenic fungus that causes invasive aspergillosis with high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients. APSES family transcription factors regulate fungal development and virulence, but the function of the putative APSES-type transcription factor AfpA (AFUA_5g11390) remains uncharacterized. To investigate the roles of AfpA in A. fumigatus, we constructed the ΔafpA mutant and performed phenotypic analyses, RT-qPCR analyses, and virulence studies. The ΔafpA mutant exhibited reduced vegetative growth but increased conidiation, with upregulation of asexual developmental regulators brlA, abaA, and wetA. AfpA positively regulated cAMP-PKA signaling, resulting in delayed conidia germination. Furthermore, the mutant responded differently to external stresses and displayed enhanced virulence in neutropenic mice. In conclusion, AfpA functions as a multifaceted regulator balancing growth, development, and pathogenicity in A. fumigatus.
期刊介绍：
Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X) is an international, peer-reviewed scientific open access journal that provides an advanced forum for studies related to pathogenic fungi, fungal biology, and all other aspects of fungal research. The journal publishes reviews, regular research papers, and communications in quarterly issues. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on paper length. Full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced.
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