The abaA homologue of Penicillium marneffei participates in two developmental programmes: Conidiation and dimorphic growth

Abstract

Penicillium marneffei is the only known species of its genus that is dimorphic. At 25°C, P. marneffei exhibits true filamentous growth and undergoes asexual development producing spores borne on complex structures called conidiophores. At 37°C, P. marneffei undergoes a dimorphic transition to produce uninucleate yeast cells that divide by fission. We have cloned a homologue of the Aspergillus nidulans abaA gene encoding an ATTS/TEA DNA-binding domain transcriptional regulator and shown that it is involved in both these developmental programs. Targeted deletion of abaA blocks asexual development at 25°C before spore production, resulting in aberrant conidiophores with reiterated terminal cell..