Novel Biological Functions of the NsdC Transcription Factor in Aspergillus fumigatus
Patrícia Alves de Castro, Clara Valero, Jéssica Chiaratto, Ana Cristina Colabardini, Lakhansing Pardeshi, Lilian Pereira Silva, Fausto Almeida, Marina Campos Rocha, Roberto Nascimento Silva, Iran Malavazi, Wenyue Du, Paul S. Dyer, Matthias Brock, Flávio V. Loures, Koon Ho Wong, Gustavo H. Goldman
Abstract
Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen and the main causal agent of invasive aspergillosis, a life-threatening infection especially in immunocompromised patients. A. fumigatus can undergo both asexual and sexual reproductive cycles, and the regulation of both cycles involves several genes and pathways. Here, we have characterized one of these genetic determinants, the NsdC transcription factor, which was initially identified in a screen of transcription factor null mutants showing sensitivity when exposed to high concentrations of calcium.