ArticleApplied microbiology and biotechnology2024
Melanin depletion affects Aspergillus flavus conidial surface proteins, architecture, and virulence.
Article in Applied microbiology and biotechnology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Deciphering Neutral Ceramidase-Dependent Mechanism of Response to Aromatic Fungicides Stress inJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Water-soluble Cordyceps melanin: a photoprotector that enhances the survival of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium acridum conidia under UV-B radiation.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Antifungal activity of volatile organic compounds produced byFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Review
- kexB Gene Correlates With Aspergillus flavus Keratitis Severity: A Whole-Genome Analysis.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- Development and validation of a clinical prediction model forFrontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Immune Mechanisms of Filamentous Fungal Keratitis.Cureus · 2024Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Melanin is an Aspergillus flavus cell wall component that provides chemical and physical protection to the organism. However, the molecular and biological mechanisms modulating melanin-mediated host-pathogen interaction in A. flavus keratitis are not well understood. This work aimed to compare the morphology, surface proteome profile, and virulence of melanized conidia (MC) and non-melanized conidia (NMC) of A. flavus. Kojic acid treatment inhibited melanin synthesis in A. flavus, and the conidial surface protein profile was significantly different in kojic acid-treated non-melanized conidia. Several cell wall-associated proteins and proteins responsible for oxidative stress, carbohydrate, and chitin metabolic pathways were found only in the formic acid extracts of NMC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed the conidial surface morphology difference between the NMC and MC, indicating the role of melanin in the structural integrity of the conidial cell wall. The levels of calcofluor white staining efficiency were different, but there was no microscopic morphology difference in lactophenol cotton blue staining between MC and NMC. Evaluation of the virulence of MC and NMC in the Galleria mellonella model showed NMC was less virulent compared to MC. Our findings showed that the integrity of the conidial surface is controlled by the melanin layer. The alteration in the surface protein profile indicated that many surface proteins are masked by the melanin layer, and hence, melanin can modulate the host response by preventing the exposure of fungal proteins to the host immune defense system. The G. mellonella virulence assay also confirmed that the NMC were susceptible to host defense as in other Aspergillus pathogens. KEY POINTS: • l-DOPA melanin production was inhibited in A. flavus isolates by kojic acid, and for the first time, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed morphological differences between MC and NMC of A. flavus strains • Proteome profile of non-melanized conidia showed more conidial surface proteins and these proteins were mainly involved in the virulence, oxidative stress, and metabolism pathways • Non-melanized conidia of A. flavus strains were shown to be less virulent than melanised conidia in an in vivo virulence experiment with the G. melonella model.
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