- The C-22 sterol desaturase Erg5 is responsible for ergosterol biosynthesis and conidiation in Aspergillus fumigatus
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Nanbiao Long , Guowei Zhong
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J. Microbiol. 2022;60(6):620-626. Published online April 18, 2022
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-022-1564-7
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Aspergillus fumigatus is the most prevalent saprophytic fungi
and can cause severe invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised
individuals. For infection of A. fumigatus, the small
hydrophobic conidia have been shown to play a dominant
role. In this study, we found that deletion of erg5, a C-22 sterol
desaturase gene which function in the last two steps of ergosterol
biosynthesis, was sufficient to block ergosterol biosynthesis
and conidiation. The deletion phenotype was further
verified by a conditional expression strain of erg5 using the
inducible tet-on system. Strikingly, erg5 mutant displays increased
susceptibility to antifungal azoles itraconazole. RNA
sequencing analysis showed that erg5 deficiency resulted in
changes in transcription mainly related to lipid, carbohydrate,
and amino acid metabolism. Genes encoding ergosterol biosynthesis-
related enzymes were found to be up-regulated in
erg5 null mutants. However, genes involved in asexual development,
including upstream regulators, melanin biosynthesis
enzymes, heterotrimeric G proteins, and MAPK signaling,
were down-regulated to various degrees. Furthermore, metabolomic
study revealed that erg5 deficiency also resulted in
altered lipid and amino acid metabolism, which was consistent
with our transcriptomics analysis. Collectively, our study
established a link between ergosterol biosynthesis and asexual
development at the transcriptomics and metabolomics level
in A. fumigatus.
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Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by  - The blue light-responsive PdCYP61 gene modulates ergosterol biosynthesis, stress resistance, growth and pathogenicity in Penicillium digitatum
Yulian Liu, Ziyan Qiu, Bingjie Wang, Shuqi Liu, Yujie Du, Chao-an Long
Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology.2027; 147: 103543. CrossRef - Deciphering the role of ergosterol and sphingolipids in the antifungal mode of action of rhamnolipids on Sclerotiniaceae.
Thomas Bergia, Sébastien Acket, Stéphanie Guénin, Laurent Gutierrez, Sonia Rippa
Microbiological Research.2026; 308: 128490. CrossRef - Morphological and molecular changes in Botrytis cinerea occurring after cold plasma treatment
Jinling Miao, Shunjie Zhai, Weida Zhang, Minrui Guo, Jiankang Cao, Guogang Chen, Wanting Yang, Shaobo Cheng
Postharvest Biology and Technology.2026; 240: 114420. CrossRef - Ergosterol from Yeasts Promotes Helicobacter pylori Internalization into Candida albicans
Javiera Contreras-Ormeño, Horliany Neira-König, Jessy Pavón-Pérez, Joaquín Olivares-Muñoz, Kimberly Sánchez-Alonzo, Apolinaria García-Cancino
International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2026; 27(15): 6747. CrossRef - The transcription factor CsAtf1 regulates CsErg5B to modulate conidial germination and fludioxonil sensitivity in Colletotrichum siamense
Yuqing Lin, Kuaikuai Wang, Xiaoling Guan, Miao Song, Zhenyu Han, Wenbo Liu, Wei Wu, Yu Zhang, Weiguo Miao, Chunhua Lin
Phytopathology Research.2026;[Epub] CrossRef - Targeting fungal lipid synthesis for antifungal drug development and potentiation of contemporary antifungals
Cecilia Gutierrez-Perez, Robert A. Cramer
npj Antimicrobials and Resistance.2025;[Epub] CrossRef - The analysis of transcriptomics reveals the function of TrPLD3 in the pathogenicity of Trichothecium roseum infecting apples
Xiao Li, Qianqian Zhang, Qili Liu, Xiaobin Xu, Jinzhu Li, Dandan Zhu, Yuanyuan Zong, Huali Xue, Yang Bi
Postharvest Biology and Technology.2025; 227: 113628. CrossRef - Ergosterol synthase reduces ochratoxin A synthesis in Aspergillus carbonarius via oxidative stress pathway
Saixue Yang, Yulan Ji, Gansukh Sunderiya, Wanxia Li, Yuchun Zhang, Xuan Wang, Dongyan Shao, Junling Shi, Xianqing Chen, Chunmei Jiang
International Journal of Food Microbiology.2025; 443: 111395. CrossRef - Exposure to Tebuconazole Drives Cross-Resistance to Clinical Triazoles in Aspergillus fumigatus
Leandra Martins Meireles, Fabiano Silva Soares, Gonçalo Apolinário de Souza Filho, Rodrigo Scherer
ACS Omega.2025; 10(42): 50407. CrossRef - Quantitative proteomic analysis reveals Ga(III) polypyridyl catecholate complexes disrupt Aspergillus fumigatus mitochondrial function
Magdalena Piatek, Brunella Grassiri, Lewis More O’Ferrall, Anna Maria Piras, Giovanna Batoni, Semih Esin, Christine O’Connor, Darren Griffith, Anne Marie Healy, Kevin Kavanagh
JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry.2024; 29(7-8): 707. CrossRef - Ergosterol Is Critical for Sporogenesis in Cryptococcus neoformans
Amber R. Matha, Xiaofeng Xie, Xiaorong Lin
Journal of Fungi.2024; 10(2): 106. CrossRef - Erg4 Is Involved in Ergosterol Biosynthesis, Conidiation and Stress Response in Penicillium expansum
Zhanhong Han, Yuanyuan Zong, Xuemei Zhang, Di Gong, Bin Wang, Dov Prusky, Edward Sionov, Huali Xue, Yang Bi
Journal of Fungi.2023; 9(5): 568. CrossRef -
A chromosome-scale genome assembly of the grape powdery mildew pathogen
Erysiphe necator
reveals its genomic architecture and previously unknown features of its biology
Alex Z. Zaccaron, Tara Neill, Jacob Corcoran, Walter F. Mahaffee, Ioannis Stergiopoulos, Gustavo H. Goldman
mBio.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
- Deep convolutional neural network: a novel approach for the detection of Aspergillus fungi via stereomicroscopy
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Haozhong Ma , Jinshan Yang , Xiaolu Chen , Xinyu Jiang , Yimin Su , Shanlei Qiao , Guowei Zhong
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J. Microbiol. 2021;59(6):563-572. Published online March 29, 2021
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-021-1013-z
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1,075
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4
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17
Web of Science
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Abstract
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Fungi of the genus Aspergillus are ubiquitously distributed
in nature, and some cause invasive aspergillosis (IA) infections
in immunosuppressed individuals and contamination
in agricultural products. Because microscopic observation
and molecular detection of Aspergillus species represent the
most operator-dependent and time-intensive activities, automated
and cost-effective approaches are needed. To address
this challenge, a deep convolutional neural network (CNN)
was used to investigate the ability to classify various Aspergillus
species. Using a dissecting microscopy (DM)/stereomicroscopy
platform, colonies on plates were scanned with
a 35× objective, generating images of sufficient resolution for
classification. A total of 8,995 original colony images from
seven Aspergillus species cultured in enrichment medium
were gathered and autocut to generate 17,142 image crops
as training and test datasets containing the typical representative
morphology of conidiophores or colonies of each strain.
Encouragingly, the Xception model exhibited a classification
accuracy of 99.8% on the training image set. After training,
our CNN model achieved a classification accuracy of
99.7% on the test image set. Based on the Xception performance
during training and testing, this classification algorithm
was further applied to recognize and validate a new
set of raw images of these strains, showing a detection accuracy
of 98.2%. Thus, our study demonstrated a novel concept
for an artificial-intelligence-based and cost-effective detection
method
ology for Aspergillus organisms, which also
has the potential to improve the public’s understanding of the
fungal kingdom.
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Citations
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Yushi Fu, Yuanyuan Pan, Yongpeng Yao, Gang Liu
Mycology.2026; 17(3): 677. CrossRef - Fungal Infection Detection using Custom Fusion Based Deep Learning Features
Irum Nehvi, Ghazanfar Latif, DNFA Iskandar
International Journal of Communication Systems and Network Technologies.2026; 15(1): 44. CrossRef - Role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the prediction of infectious diseases: A comprehensive review of bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens
Akmal Zubair, Ghousia Sayeed, Mohammad Saquib Ashraf, Gunesh Kumar, Abdul Haseeb, Yasir Waheed
Decoding Infection and Transmission.2026; 4: 100089. CrossRef - Superficial Fungal Infections and Artificial Intelligence: A Review on Current Advances and Opportunities: REVISION
Bahareh Hasan Pour
Mycoses.2025;[Epub] CrossRef - Morphological Characterization of Aspergillus flavus in Culture Media Using Digital Image Processing and Radiomic Analysis Under UV Radiation
Oscar J. Suarez, Daniel C. Ruiz-Ayala, Liliana Rojas Contreras, Manuel G. Forero, Jesús A. Medrano-Hermosillo, Abraham Efraim Rodriguez-Mata
Agriculture.2025; 15(17): 1888. CrossRef - Transforming Medical Microbiology: The Role of Artificial Intelligence
Suvarna Sande, Manisha Rajguru
Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology.2025; 19(3): 1705. CrossRef - Outlier classification for microbiological open set recognition
Yining Pan, Wei Ye, Dejin Xie, Jiaoyu Wang, Hongkai Wang, Haiping Qiu
Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.2024; 224: 109104. CrossRef - Harnessing of Artificial Intelligence for the Diagnosis and Prevention of Hospital-Acquired Infections: A Systematic Review
Buket Baddal, Ferdiye Taner, Dilber Uzun Ozsahin
Diagnostics.2024; 14(5): 484. CrossRef - Current status and new experimental diagnostic methods of invasive fungal infections after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Zhenhua Tang, HaiTao Wang, Yuankai Liu, Chen Wang, Xinye Li, Qiong Yang
Archives of Microbiology.2024;[Epub] CrossRef - Artificial Intelligence: Exploring utility in detection and typing of fungus with futuristic application in fungal cytology
Nidhi Singla, Reetu Kundu, Pranab Dey
Cytopathology.2024; 35(2): 226. CrossRef - Label-Free Optical Transmission Tomography for Direct Mycological Examination and Monitoring of Intracellular Dynamics
Eliott Teston, Marc Sautour, Léa Boulnois, Nicolas Augey, Abdellah Dighab, Christophe Guillet, Dea Garcia-Hermoso, Fanny Lanternier, Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux, Frédéric Dalle, Louise Basmaciyan, Mathieu Blot, Pierre-Emmanuel Charles, Jean-Pierre Quenot, Bi
Journal of Fungi.2024; 10(11): 741. CrossRef - Artificial Intelligence and Microbiology
Mert Kandilci, Gülfer Yakıcı, Mediha Begüm Kayar
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Tsi-Shu Huang, Kevin Wang, Xiu-Yuan Ye, Chii-Shiang Chen, Fu-Chuen Chang, Paschalis Vergidis, Yang Zhang
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Frontiers in Microbiology.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
- The putative polysaccharide synthase AfCps1 regulates Aspergillus fumigatus morphogenesis and conidia immune response in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages
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Sha Wang , Anjie Yuan , Liping Zeng , Sikai Hou , Meng Wang , Lei Li , Zhendong Cai , Guowei Zhong
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J. Microbiol. 2021;59(1):64-75. Published online November 17, 2020
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-021-0347-x
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946
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3
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5
Web of Science
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4
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Abstract
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Aspergillus fumigatus is a well-known opportunistic pathogen
that causes invasive aspergillosis (IA) infections with high
mortality in immunosuppressed individuals. Morphogenesis,
including hyphal growth, conidiation, and cell wall biosynthesis
is crucial in A. fumigatus pathogenesis. Based on a previous
random insertional mutagenesis library, we identified
the putative polysaccharide synthase gene Afcps1 and its paralog
Afcps2. Homologs of the cps gene are commonly found
in the genomes of most fungal and some bacterial pathogens.
Afcps1/cpsA is important in sporulation, cell wall composition,
and virulence. However, the precise regulation patterns
of cell wall integrity by Afcps1/cpsA and further effects on the
immune response are poorly understood. Specifically, our
in-depth study revealed that Afcps1 affects cell-wall stability,
showing an increased resistance of ΔAfcps1 to the chitinmicrofibril
destabilizing compound calcofluor white (CFW)
and susceptibility of ΔAfcps1 to the β-(1,3)-glucan synthase
inhibitor echinocandin caspofungin (CS). Additionally, deletion
of Afcps2 had a normal sporulation phenotype but
caused hypersensitivity to Na+ stress, CFW, and Congo red
(CR). Specifically, quantitative analysis of cell wall composition
using high-performance anion exchange chromatography-
pulsed amperometric detector (HPAEC-PAD) analysis
revealed that depletion of Afcps1 reduced cell wall glucan
and chitin contents, which was consistent with the downregulation
of expression of the corresponding biosynthesis
genes. Moreover, an elevated immune response stimulated
by conidia of the ΔAfcps1 mutant in marrow-derived macrophages
(BMMs) during phagocytosis was observed. Thus,
our study provided new insights into the function of polysaccharide
synthase Cps1, which is necessary for the maintenance
of cell wall stability and the adaptation of conidia to
the immune response of macrophages in A. fumigatus.
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Citations
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Arianna D. Daniel, Vikram Senthil, Katrina K. Hoyer
Journal of Fungi.2025; 11(10): 754. CrossRef -
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conidia germination
Sifan Jia, Chong Li, Yu An, Desheng Qi, Erik F. Y. Hom
Microbiology Spectrum.2024;[Epub] CrossRef - Chitin Biosynthesis in Aspergillus Species
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Journal of Fungi.2023; 9(1): 89. CrossRef - Evidencing New Roles for the Glycosyl-Transferase Cps1 in the Phytopathogenic Fungus Botrytis cinerea
Matthieu Blandenet, Isabelle R. Gonçalves, Christine Rascle, Jean-William Dupuy, François-Xavier Gillet, Nathalie Poussereau, Mathias Choquer, Christophe Bruel
Journal of Fungi.2022; 8(9): 899. CrossRef
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