ArticlePLoS pathogens2011
Sporangiospore size dimorphism is linked to virulence of Mucor circinelloides.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers.
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Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 150 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
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- Auranofin is active against Histoplasma capsulatum and reduces the expression of virulence-related genes.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
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- A Second Fungal Outbreak in Castañar Cave, Spain, Discloses the Fragility of Subsurface Ecosystems.Microbial ecology · 2024Article
- Experimental Models to Study the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Mucormycosis.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
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- Fungal spore swelling and germination are restricted by the macrophage phagolysosome.Fungal biology · 2023Article
- Advances in understanding infections caused by the basal fungus Mucor.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
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- Mucormycosis in 2023: an update on pathogenesis and management.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- The nature of the fungal cargo induces significantly different temporal programmes of macrophage phagocytosis.Cell surface (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Temperature and Humidity Regulate Sporulation ofBiology · 2022Article
- Secretion of the siderophore rhizoferrin is regulated by the cAMP-PKA pathway and is involved in the virulence of Mucor lusitanicus.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Differential Gene Expression ofJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Genetic Manipulation in Mucorales and New Developments to Study Mucormycosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Mucor circinelloides is a zygomycete fungus and an emerging opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients, especially transplant recipients and in some cases otherwise healthy individuals. We have discovered a novel example of size dimorphism linked to virulence. M. circinelloides is a heterothallic fungus: (+) sex allele encodes SexP and (-) sex allele SexM, both of which are HMG domain protein sex determinants. M. circinelloides f. lusitanicus (Mcl) (-) mating type isolates produce larger asexual sporangiospores that are more virulent in the wax moth host compared to (+) isolates that produce smaller less virulent sporangiospores. The larger sporangiospores germinate inside and lyse macrophages, whereas the smaller sporangiospores do not. sexMΔ mutants are sterile and still produce larger virulent sporangiospores, suggesting that either the sex locus is not involved in virulence/spore size or the sexP allele plays an inhibitory role. Phylogenetic analysis supports that at least three extant subspecies populate the M. circinelloides complex in nature: Mcl, M. circinelloides f. griseocyanus, and M. circinelloides f. circinelloides (Mcc). Mcc was found to be more prevalent among clinical Mucor isolates, and more virulent than Mcl in a diabetic murine model in contrast to the wax moth host. The M. circinelloides sex locus encodes an HMG domain protein (SexP for plus and SexM for minus mating types) flanked by genes encoding triose phosphate transporter (TPT) and RNA helicase homologs. The borders of the sex locus between the three subspecies differ: the Mcg sex locus includes the promoters of both the TPT and the RNA helicase genes, whereas the Mcl and Mcc sex locus includes only the TPT gene promoter. Mating between subspecies was restricted compared to mating within subspecies. These findings demonstrate that spore size dimorphism is linked to virulence of M. circinelloides species and that plasticity of the sex locus and adaptations in pathogenicity have occurred during speciation of the M. circinelloides complex.
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