%0 Journal Article
%T Functions, Cooperation, and Interplays of the Vegetative Growth Signaling Pathway in the Aspergilli
%A T邦nde Pusztahelyi
%A Istv芍n P車csi
%J Journal of Mycology
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/832521
%X Knowledge on the functions, cooperation, and interplays of the signaling and regulatory pathways of filamentous fungi is crucial when their industrial performance is improved or when new-type antifungals are developed. Many research groups aim at a deeper understanding of vegetative growth signaling because this cascade also influences other important physiological processes including asexual and sexual developments, autolysis and apoptotic cell death as well as the production of a wide array of important secondary metabolites. This review also focuses on how this signaling pathway is interconnected with other signaling cascades setting up a robust but delicately regulated signaling network in the Aspergilli. 1. Introduction Almost 50% of the known fungi and around 80% of the human pathogen fungi are phylogenetically related to Ascomycetes [1]. Moreover, many species of the Aspergilli possess medical and/or industrial importance; for example, they have large capacities of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme, food ingredient, or antibiotic productions [2]. Considering the most studied species within this genus, Aspergillus niger can play a role as an opportunistic pathogen in humans [3], though its real importance is in industrial-scale citric acid production [4], which is higher than one million tons per year [5]. A. oryzae is a well-known ※generally regarded as safe§ (GRAS) organism in food fermentation industry, for example, in traditional sake, tofu, and acetic acid productions. A. fumigatus is a specialized opportunistic human pathogen, which is a saprophytic organism [6每8] with air-spread conidiospores [9, 10]. It is characterized by abundant spore production as, from every conidiophore, thousands of small (2-3ˋ米m diameters) conidia are released and are able to reach the alveoli in lungs [11]. With increase in number of immunosuppressed patients and modern immunosuppressing therapies [12每14], this fungus became very dangerous especially in developing countries [15每19]. Although A. fumigatus is considered as the most dangerous fungus causing higher than 90% of human aspergilloses [8, 20每24], other species are also potential pathogens; for example, A. flavus, A. terreus, A. niger and even A. nidulans can also cause human illnesses [24]. Moreover, A. nidulans is a well-known genetic model organism within the Aspergilli with an enormous background database (http://www.aspgd.org/) on its genetic and biochemical properties. 2. Vegetative Growth Signaling The growth of A. nidulans is regulated via the FadA-dependent signal transduction pathway, where FadA is
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jmy/2013/832521/