Affiliation:
1. Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
2. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The cell wall, a mesh of carbohydrates and proteins, shapes and protects the fungal cell. The enzyme responsible for the synthesis of one of the main components of the fungal wall, 1,3-β-glucan synthase, is targeted by the antifungal caspofungin acetate (CFA). Clinical isolates of
Candida albicans
and
Aspergillus fumigatus
are much more sensitive to CFA than clinical isolates of
Fusarium
species. To better understand CFA resistance in
Fusarium
species, we cloned and sequenced Fs
FKS1
, which encodes the
Fusarium solani
f. sp.
pisi
β(1,3)-
d
-glucan synthase, used RNA interference to reduce its expression and complemented deletion of the essential
fks
gene of the CFA-sensitive fungus
A. fumigatus
with Fs
FKS1
. Reduction of the Fs
FKS1
message in
F. solani
f. sp.
pisi
reduced spore viability and caused lysis of spores and hyphae, consistent with cell wall defects. Compensating for the loss of
A. fumigatus fks1
with Fs
FKS1
caused only a modest increase in the tolerance of
A. fumigatus
for CFA. Our results suggest that FsFKS1 is required for the proper construction of
F. solani
cell walls and that the resistance of
F. solani
to CFA is at best only partially due to resistance of the FsFKS1 enzyme to this antifungal agent.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Molecular Biology,General Medicine,Microbiology
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