Light Sensing in Aspergillus fumigatus Highlights the Case for Establishing New Models for Fungal Photobiology

Abstract

Microbes inhabit diverse environmental locations, and many species need to shift their physiology between different niches. To do this effectively requires the accurate sensing of and response to the environment. For pathogens, exposure to light is one major change between a free-living saprophyte lifestyle and causation of disease within the host. However, how light may act as a signal to influence pathogenesis, on the side of either the host or the pathogen, is poorly understood. Research during the last 2 decades has uncovered aspects about the machinery for light sensing in a small number of fungi. Now, Fuller et al. have initiated studies into the role that light and two photosensor hom..