Author, as appears in the article.: López-Fernández L., Sanchis M., Navarro-Rodríguez P., Nicolás F., Silva-Franco F., Guarro J., Garre V., Navarro-Mendoza M., Pérez-Arques C., Capilla J.

Department: Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques

URV's Author/s: Capilla Luque, Javier / Guarro Artigas, Josep / Sanchis Talón, Marta

Keywords: Whole genome sequencing Virulence factors Virulence factor Proteins Murine model infection Mucormycosis Mucor Genome comparison Gene Fungi Fungal pathogenesis Chitosan Chitin Cell-wall Aspergillus-fumigatus virulence factors virulence factor murine model infection mucormycosis mucor genome comparison fungal pathogenesis

Abstract: The increasing number of infections by species of Mucorales and their high mortality constitute an important concern for public health. This study aims to decipher the genetic basis of Mucor circinelloides pathogenicity, which displays virulence in a strain dependent manner. Assuming that genetic differences between strains may be linked to different pathotypes, we have conducted a study to explore genes responsible for virulence in M. circinelloides by whole genome sequencing of the avirulent strain NRRL3631 and comparison with the virulent strain CBS277.49. This genome analysis revealed 773 truncated, discontiguous and absent genes in the NRRL3631 strain. We also examined phenotypic traits resulting in reduced heat stress tolerance, chitosan content and lower susceptibility to toxic compounds (calcofluor white and sodium dodecyl sulphate) in the virulent strain, suggesting the influence of cell wall on pathogenesis. Based on these results, we focused on studying extracellular protein-coding genes by gene deletion and further pathotype characterization of mutants in murine models of pulmonary and systemic infection. Deletion of gene ID112092, which codes for a hypothetical extracellular protein of unknown function, resulted in significant reduction of virulence. Although pathogenesis is a multifactorial process, these findings highlight the crucial role of surface and secreted proteins in M. circinelloides virulence and should promote further studies of other differential genes.

Thematic Areas: Saúde coletiva Parasitology Odontología Microbiology (medical) Microbiology Medicina ii Medicina i Interdisciplinar Infectious diseases Immunology General medicine Farmacia Engenharias i Ciências biológicas iii Ciências biológicas ii Ciências biológicas i Ciência de alimentos Biotecnología

licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/

ISSN: 21505594

Author's mail: marta.sanchis@urv.cat josep.guarro@urv.cat javier.capilla@urv.cat

Author identifier: 0000-0001-7251-6792 0000-0002-7839-7568 0000-0002-0765-6403

Record's date: 2023-02-18

Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Link to the original source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21505594.2018.1435249

Licence document URL: http://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/

Papper original source: Virulence. 9 (1): 707-720

APA: López-Fernández L., Sanchis M., Navarro-Rodríguez P., Nicolás F., Silva-Franco F., Guarro J., Garre V., Navarro-Mendoza M., Pérez-Arques C., Capilla J (2018). Understanding Mucor circinelloides pathogenesis by comparative genomics and phenotypical studies. Virulence, 9(1), 707-720. DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2018.1435249

Article's DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2018.1435249

Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Journal publication year: 2018

Publication Type: Journal Publications