Affiliation:
1. Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Aspergillus fumigatus
is a ubiquitous environmental mold and the leading cause of diverse human diseases ranging from allergenic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) to invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Experimental investigations of the biology and virulence of this opportunistic pathogen have historically used a few type strains; however, it is increasingly observed with this fungus that heterogeneity among isolates potentially confounds the use of these reference isolates. Illustrating this point, Kowalski et al. (mBio 7:e01515-16, 2016,
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01515-16
) demonstrated that variation in 16 environmental and clinical isolates of
A. fumigatus
correlated virulence with fitness in low oxygen, whereas Fuller et al. (mBio 7:e01517-16, 2016,
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01517-16
) showed wide variation in light responses at a physiological and protein functionality level in 15
A. fumigatus
isolates. In both studies, two commonly used type strains, Af293 and CEA10, displayed significant differences in physiological responses to abiotic stimuli and virulence in a murine model of IPA.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology