Taxonomic group: fungi / Ascomycota
(Phylum: Ascomycota)
Associated disease: infection due to Aspergillus fumigatus [ICD11:
XN5Z7 
]
NCBI PubMed ID: 31826973Publication DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00741-19Journal NLM ID: 101674533Publisher: Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology
Correspondence: Jung S <s.jung
tu-berlin.de>; Meyer V <vera.meyer
tu-berlin.de>
Institutions: Technische Universität Berlin, Institute of Biotechnology, Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Berlin, Germany, Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Aspergillus giganteus and is a very potent inhibitor of fungal growth that does not affect the viability of bacteria, plant, or mammalian cells. It targets chitin synthesis and causes plasma membrane permeabilization in many human- and plant-pathogenic fungi, but its exact mode of action is not known. After adoption of the "damage-response framework of microbial pathogenesis" regarding the analysis of interactions between AMPs and microorganisms, we have recently proposed that the cytotoxic capacity of a given AMP depends not only on the presence/absence of its target(s) in the host and the AMP concentration applied but also on other variables, such as microbial survival strategies. We show here using the examples of three filamentous fungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Fusarium graminearum) and two yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris) that the important parameters defining the AFP susceptibilities of these fungi are (i) the presence/absence of glycosylceramides, (ii) the presence/absence of Δ3(E) desaturation of the fatty acid chain therein, and (iii) the (dis)ability of these fungi to respond to AFP inhibitory effects with the fortification of their cell walls via increased chitin and β-(1,3)-glucan synthesis. These observations support the idea of the adoption of the damage-response framework to holistically understand the outcome of AFP inhibitory effects. Our data suggest a fundamental role of glycosylceramides in the susceptibility of fungi to AFP. We discovered that only a minor structural difference in these molecules—namely, the saturation level of their fatty acid chain, controlled by a 2-hydroxy fatty N-acyl-Δ3(E)-desaturase—represents a key to understanding the inhibitory activity of AFP. As glycosylceramides are important components of fungal plasma membranes, we propose a model which links AFP-mediated inhibition of chitin synthesis in fungi with its potential to disturb plasma membrane integrity.
yeast, sphingolipid, Glycosylceramide, filamentous fungus, antimicrobial peptide, antifungal protein AFP, gamma core, damage response framework, Δ3(E)-desaturase
Structure type: monomer
Location inside paper: Fig. 1, Table 1, GlcCer
Contained glycoepitopes: IEDB_136044,IEDB_137472,IEDB_141794,IEDB_190606,SB_1,SB_165,SB_166,SB_187,SB_195,SB_7,SB_88
Related record ID(s): 50142, 50144
NCBI Taxonomy refs (TaxIDs): 5061,
746128
Show glycosyltransferases
There is only one chemically distinct structure:
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