Expressed sequence tag analysis of the human pathogen Paracoccidioides brasiliensis yeast phase: Identification of putative homologues of Candida albicans virulence and pathogenicity genes

• Autor(a) principal: Goldman, Gustavo H.
• Data de Publicação: 2003
• Outros Autores: Marques, Everaldo dos Reis, Ribeiro, Diogenes Custodio Duarte, Bernardes, Luciano Angelo de Souza, Quiapin, Andrea Carla, Vitorelli, Patricia Marostica, Savoldi, Marcela, Semighini, Camile P., Oliveira, Regina C. de, Nunes, Luiz R., Travassos, Luiz R. [UNIFESP], Puccia, Rosana [UNIFESP], Batista, Wagner L. [UNIFESP], Ferreira, Leslie Ecker., Moreira, Julio C., Bogossian, Ana Paula, Tekaia, Fredj, Nobrega, Marina Pasetto, Nobrega, Francisco G., Goldman, Maria Helena S
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/27124; http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/EC.2.1.34-48.2003

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, a thermodimorphic fungus, is the causative agent of the prevalent systemic mycosis in Latin America, paracoccidioidomycosis. We present here a survey of expressed genes in the yeast pathogenic phase of P. brasiliensis. We obtained 13,490 expressed sequence tags from both 5' and 3' ends. Clustering analysis yielded the partial sequences of 4,692 expressed genes that were functionally classified by similarity to known genes. We have identified several Candida albicans virulence and pathogenicity homologues in P. brasiliensis. Furthermore, we have analyzed the expression of some of these genes during the dimorphic yeast-mycelium-yeast transition by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. Clustering analysis of the mycelium-yeast transition revealed three groups: (i) RBT, hydrophobin, and isocitrate lyase; (ii) malate dehydrogenase, contigs Pb1067 and Pb1145, GPI, and alternative oxidase; and (iii) ubiquitin, delta-9-desaturase, HSP70, HSP82, and HSP104. the first two groups displayed high mRNA expression in the mycelial phase, whereas the third group showed higher mRNA expression in the yeast phase. Our results suggest the possible conservation of pathogenicity and virulence mechanisms among fungi, expand considerably gene identification in P. brasiliensis, and provide a broader basis for further progress in understanding its biological peculiarities.