Abstract
Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum) is the most common of the superficial fungi. In an effort to better understand the genetic and biochemical makeup ofT. rubrum, we generated cDNA libraries from 3 growth stages and used these to isolate 4002 unique expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Sequence comparisons with the Genbank database allowed 1226 of the ESTs to be assigned putative functions or matched with homologs from other organisms. Of the remaining ESTs, 989 were only weakly similar to known sequences and 1787 had no identifiable functions, suggesting that they represent novel genes. We further analyzed the presence of several important genes involved in the growth, metabolism, signal transduction, pathogenesis and drug resistance inT. rubrum. This information was used to newly elucidate important metabolic pathways inT. rubrum. Taken together, our results should form the molecular basis for continued research on the physiological processes and pathogenic mechanisms ofT. rubrum, and may lead to a better understanding of fungal drug resistance and identification of new drug targets.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fontaine, T., Magnin, T., Melhert, A. et al., Structures of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchors fromAspergillus fumigatus membrane proteins, Glycobiology, 2003, 13(3): 169–177.
Kitagaki, H., Wu, H., Shimoi, H., Ito, K., Two homologous genes, DCW1 (YKL046c) and DFG5, are essential for cell growth and encode glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored membrane proteins required for cell wall biogenesis inSaccharomyces cerevisiae, Mol. Microbiol., 2002, 46(4): 1011–1022.
Richard, M., De Groot, P., Courtin, O. et al., GPI7 affects cell-wall protein anchorage inSaccharomyces cerevisiae andCandida albicans, Microbiology, 2002, 148(Pt 7): 2125–2133.
Clemons, K. V., Miller, T. K., Selitrennikoff, C. P. et al., fos-1, a putative histidine kinase as a virulence factor for systemic aspergillosis, Med. Mycol., 2002, 40(3): 259–262.
Pott, G. B., Miller, T. K., Bartlett, J. A. et al., The isolation of FOS-1, a gene encoding a putative two-component histidine kinase fromAspergillus fumigatus, Fungal Genet. Biol., 2000, 31(1): 55–67.
Selitrennikoff, C. P., Alex, L., Miller, T. K. et al., COS1, a putative two-component histidine kinase of Candida albicans, is an vivo virulence factor, Med. Mycol., 2001, 39(1): 69–74.
Torosantucci, A., Chiani, P., De Bernardis, F. et al., Deletion of the two-component histidine kinase gene (CHK1) of Candida albicans contributes to enhanced growth inhibition and killing by human neutrophilsin vitro, Infect. Immun., 2002, 70(2): 985–987.
Samdani, A. J., Dykes, P. J., Marks, R., The proteolytic activity of strains ofT. mentagrophytes andT. rubrum isolated from tinea pedis and tinea unguium infections, J. Med. Vet. Mycol., 1995, 33(3): 167–170.
Apodaca, G., McKerrow, J. H., Expression of proteolytic activity by cultures ofTrichrophyton rubrum, J. Med. Vet. Mycol., 1990, 28: 159–171.
Apodaca, G., McKerrow, J. H., Regulation ofTrichophyton rubrum proteolytic activity, Infect. Immun., 1989, 57(10): 3081–3090.
Asahi, M., Lindquist, R., Fukuyama, K. et al., Purification and characterization of major extracellular proteinases from Trichophyton rubrum, Biochem. J., 1985, 232(1): 139–144.
Parkinson, T., Falconer, D. J., Hitchcock, C. A., Fluconazole resistance due to energy-dependent drug efflux in Candida glabrata, Antimicrob. Agent Chemother, 1995, 39(8): 1696–1699.
Denning, D. W., Venkateswarlu, K., Oakley, K. L. et al., Itra-conazole resistance inAspergillus fumigatus, Antimicrob. Agent Chemother, 1997, 41(6): 1364–1368.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, L., Ma, L., Leng, W. et al. Analysis of part of theTrichophyton rubrum ESTs. Sci. China Ser. C.-Life Sci. 47, 389–395 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03187096
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03187096