The effects of calcineurin A on the pathogenicity of Talaromyces marneffei

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of calcineurin A from T. marneffei on pathogenicity. Methods The morphogenesis, cell wall integrity, external stress responses, growth of co-cultured with macrophages, and constructed animal infection model were observed to determine the roles of the CnaA on the pathogenicity of T. marneffei. Results Deletion of the CnaA gene in T. marneffei resulted in a strain with significant defects in morphogenesis, cell wall integrity, and resistance to various stressors. The conidia of ΔcnaA strain co-incubated with RAW264.7 macrophages were rapidly phagocytosed. By 24 h, the ΔcnaA strain showed much slower growth than the wild-type cells. At 48 h, very few ΔcnaA strain remaining in macrophagesshowed that most of the ΔcnaA strain had been killed and degraded. In the infected mouse model, the mortality and tissue fungi burden of ΔcnaA mutant infected mice were significantly lower than those of wild-type. Conclusion CnaA of T. marneffei plays a key role in controlling fungal morphogenesis and the response to internal and external stresses, as well as in the host immune response and fungal pathogenicity.

Key words: Talaromyces marneffei, CnaA, morphogenesis, cell wall integrity, immune escape, pathogenicity

CLC Number:

R379.9

HUANG Chun-yang, PAN Kai-su, LI Xiu-ying, CAO Cun-wei, ZHENG Yan-qing. The effects of calcineurin A on the pathogenicity of Talaromyces marneffei[J]. Chinese Journal of Mycology, 2020, 15(3): 138-144.

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