PUBLICATION
Aspergillus fumigatus establishes infection in zebrafish by germination of phagocytized conidia, while Aspergillus niger relies on extracellular germination
- Authors
- Koch, B.E.V., Hajdamowicz, N.H., Lagendijk, E., Ram, A.F.J., Meijer, A.H.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-190907-5
- Date
- 2019
- Source
- Scientific Reports 9: 12791 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Meijer, Annemarie H.
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Macrophages/microbiology
- Spores, Fungal/growth & development
- Aspergillus fumigatus/immunology
- Aspergillus fumigatus/pathogenicity
- Aspergillus fumigatus/physiology*
- Animals
- Zebrafish/immunology
- Zebrafish/microbiology*
- Species Specificity
- Cell Migration Assays, Leukocyte
- Disease Models, Animal
- Aspergillus niger/immunology
- Aspergillus niger/pathogenicity
- Aspergillus niger/physiology*
- Fish Diseases/immunology
- Fish Diseases/microbiology*
- Phagocytosis*
- Aspergillosis/microbiology
- Aspergillosis/veterinary*
- Leukocytes/immunology
- Tissue Culture Techniques
- PubMed
- 31488879 Full text @ Sci. Rep.
Citation
Koch, B.E.V., Hajdamowicz, N.H., Lagendijk, E., Ram, A.F.J., Meijer, A.H. (2019) Aspergillus fumigatus establishes infection in zebrafish by germination of phagocytized conidia, while Aspergillus niger relies on extracellular germination. Scientific Reports. 9:12791.
Abstract
Among opportunistically pathogenic filamentous fungi of the Aspergillus genus, Aspergillus fumigatus stands out as a drastically more prevalent cause of infection than others. Utilizing the zebrafish embryo model, we applied a combination of non-invasive real-time imaging and genetic approaches to compare the infectious development of A. fumigatus with that of the less pathogenic A. niger. We found that both species evoke similar immune cell migratory responses, but A. fumigatus is more efficiently phagocytized than A. niger. Though efficiently phagocytized, A. fumigatus conidia retains the ability to germinate and form hyphae from inside macrophages leading to serious infection even at relatively low infectious burdens. By contrast, A. niger appears to rely on extracellular germination, and rapid hyphal growth to establish infection. Despite these differences in the mechanism of infection between the species, galactofuranose mutant strains of both A. fumigatus and A. niger display attenuated pathogenesis. However, deficiency in this cell wall component has a stronger impact on A. niger, which is dependent on rapid extracellular hyphal growth. In conclusion, we uncover differences in the interaction of the two fungal species with innate immune cells, noticeable from very early stages of infection, which drive a divergence in their route to establishing infections.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping