TY - JOUR
T1 - Identification and characterization of an Aspergillus fumigatus "supermater" pair
AU - Sugui, Janyce A.
AU - Losada, Liliana
AU - Wang, Wei
AU - Varga, John
AU - Ngamskulrungroj, Popchai
AU - Abu-Asab, Mones
AU - Chang, Yun C.
AU - O'Gorman, Céline M.
AU - Wickes, Brian L.
AU - Nierman, William C.
AU - Dyer, Paul S.
AU - Kwon-Chung, Kyung J.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The mating efficiency of 50 Aspergillus fumigatus isolates from both clinical and environmental sources was analyzed. Forty isolates completed the sexual cycle in 4 weeks with variable levels of fertility designated high, medium, or low. Two opposite-mating-type strains exhibiting the highest fertility, AFB62 (MAT1-1), isolated from a case of invasive aspergillosis, and AFIR928 (MAT1-2), isolated from the environment, were chosen as the supermater pair. Single cleistothecia obtained from a cross of the two strains harbored a minimum of 1 × 104 ascospores. The viability of ascospores increased with the age of the fruiting body, 17% at 4 weeks and reaching 95% at 20 weeks. AFB62 and AFIR928 were equally virulent in two different murine models, despite differences in their sources. High recombination frequencies were observed when the closely linked genes alb1 (AFUA-2G17600) and abr2 (AFUA-2G17530) were used as genetic markers. Comparative genome hybridization analyses revealed that only 86 genes (ca. 0.86% of the genome) are significantly diverged between AFB62 and AFIR928. The high fertility in a relatively short period, combined with a high degree of virulence and a high recombination frequency, demonstrates that the mating pair AFB62 and AFIR928 provides an excellent tool for genetic studies of A. fumigatus.
AB - The mating efficiency of 50 Aspergillus fumigatus isolates from both clinical and environmental sources was analyzed. Forty isolates completed the sexual cycle in 4 weeks with variable levels of fertility designated high, medium, or low. Two opposite-mating-type strains exhibiting the highest fertility, AFB62 (MAT1-1), isolated from a case of invasive aspergillosis, and AFIR928 (MAT1-2), isolated from the environment, were chosen as the supermater pair. Single cleistothecia obtained from a cross of the two strains harbored a minimum of 1 × 104 ascospores. The viability of ascospores increased with the age of the fruiting body, 17% at 4 weeks and reaching 95% at 20 weeks. AFB62 and AFIR928 were equally virulent in two different murine models, despite differences in their sources. High recombination frequencies were observed when the closely linked genes alb1 (AFUA-2G17600) and abr2 (AFUA-2G17530) were used as genetic markers. Comparative genome hybridization analyses revealed that only 86 genes (ca. 0.86% of the genome) are significantly diverged between AFB62 and AFIR928. The high fertility in a relatively short period, combined with a high degree of virulence and a high recombination frequency, demonstrates that the mating pair AFB62 and AFIR928 provides an excellent tool for genetic studies of A. fumigatus.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84855229518
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84855229518#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1128/mBio.00234-11
DO - 10.1128/mBio.00234-11
M3 - Article
C2 - 22108383
AN - SCOPUS:84855229518
SN - 2161-2129
VL - 2
JO - mBio
JF - mBio
IS - 6
M1 - e00234-11
ER -