Journal article
AreA controls nitrogen source utilisation during both growth programs of the dimorphic fungus Penicillium marneffei
HE Bugeja, MJ Hynes, A Andrianopoulos
Fungal Biology | Published : 2012
Abstract
The opportunistic pathogen Penicillium marneffei displays a temperature-dependent dimorphic switching program with saprophytic hyphal growth at 25°C and yeast growth at 37°C. The areA gene of P. marneffei has been isolated and found to be required for the utilisation of nonpreferred nitrogen sources during both growth programs of P. marneffei, albeit to differing degrees. Based on this functional characterisation and high degree of sequence conservation with other fungal GATA factors, P. marneffei areA represents an orthologue of Aspergillus nidulans areA and Neurospora crassa NIT2. Based on this study it is proposed that AreA is likely to contribute to the pathogenicity of P. marneffei by f..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants to A. Andrianopoulos from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. H.E. Bugeja was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award. We thank K.J. Boyce for critical comments on the manuscript.