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Melanization of a Meristematic Mutant of Fonsecaea monophora Increases Tolerance to Stress Factors While no Effects on Antifungal Susceptibility

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Abstract

Melanin is a complex polymer, which is widely distributed in nature, and is known as an important virulence factor in opportunistic and pathogenic fungi. In this study, three melanin mutants of Fonsecaea monophora from a case of chromoblastomycosis were generated from a parent strain that lacked hyphal morphology but was meristematic instead. Two albino mutants, one of which (CBS 125187) produced secreted melanin and another (CBS 125149) lacked melanin, grew faster than a mutant with cell-wall-associated and secreted melanin (CBS 125188) and than the meristematic parent strain (CBS 122845) (P < 0.05). The albino strains were also more sensitive to low pH, high UV radiation, and oxidative stress (P < 0.05). However, susceptibility testing against eight antifungal agents showed no statistical difference (P > 0.05). The discovery of three melanin mutants of a single meristematic mutant provided an alternative way to study the role of cell-wall-associated and secreted melanins in the pathogenesis of black fungi.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (No. 20100171110068).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 107 West Yanjiang Rd, Guangzhou, 510120, China

    Jiufeng Sun, Junmin Zhang, Xiqing Li, Liyan Xi & G. S. de Hoog

  2. CBS–KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Jiufeng Sun, M. J. Najafzadeh, Hamid Badali & G. S. de Hoog

  3. Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    M. J. Najafzadeh, Hamid Badali & G. S. de Hoog

  4. Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    M. J. Najafzadeh

  5. Department of Medical Mycology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

    Hamid Badali

  6. Research Center for Medical Mycology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China

    G. S. de Hoog

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  1. Jiufeng Sun
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Correspondence to Liyan Xi.

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Sun, J., Zhang, J., Najafzadeh, M.J. et al. Melanization of a Meristematic Mutant of Fonsecaea monophora Increases Tolerance to Stress Factors While no Effects on Antifungal Susceptibility. Mycopathologia 172, 373–380 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-011-9439-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-011-9439-1

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