Aspergillus fumigatus MADS-Box Transcription Factor rlmA Is Required for Regulation of the Cell Wall Integrity and Virulence

作者：Rocha Marina Campos; Tadini Marilhano Fabri Joao Henrique; de Godoy Krissia Franco; de Castro Patricia Alves; Hori Juliana Issa; da Cunha Anderson Ferreira; Arentshorst Mark; Ram Arthur F J; van den Hondel Cees A M J J; Goldman Gustavo Henrique; Malavazi Iran^*

来源：Genes Genomes Genetics, 2016, 6(9): 2983-3002.

DOI：10.1534/g3.116.031112

• Aspergillus fumigatus
• rlmA
• cell wall integrity
• virulence
• mpkA

The Cell Wall Integrity (CWI) pathway is the primary signaling cascade that controls the de novo synthesis of the fungal cell wall, and in Saccharomyces cerevisiae this event is highly dependent on the RLM1 transcription factor. Here, we investigated the function of RlmA in the fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. We show that the rlmA strain exhibits an altered cell wall organization in addition to defects related to vegetative growth and tolerance to cell wall-perturbing agents. A genetic analysis indicated that rlmA is positioned downstream of the pkcA and mpkA genes in the CWI pathway. As a consequence, rlmA loss-of-function leads to the altered expression of genes encoding cell wall-related proteins. RlmA positively regulates the phosphorylation of MpkA and is induced at both protein and transcriptional levels during cell wall stress. The rlmA was also involved in tolerance to oxidative damage and transcriptional regulation of genes related to oxidative stress adaptation. Moreover, the rlmA strain had attenuated virulence in a neutropenic murine model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Our results suggest that RlmA functions as a transcription factor in the A. fumigatus CWI pathway, acting downstream of PkcA-MpkA signaling and contributing to the virulence of this fungus.

• 出版日期2016-9