Publication Date

2019

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Calvo, Ana M.

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Biological Sciences

Abstract

The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic human pathogen capable of causing

a life-threatening systemic lung infection known as invasive aspergillosis among immune compromised

patients. This group includes individuals infected with HIV, people with hematological

malignancies, solid organ transplant patients, persons with genetic immunodeficiency and cancer

patient undergoing chemotherapy. Due to the medical relevance of this organism, it is imperative

to discover novel genetic elements to design antifungal drugs against A. fumigatus dissemination,

virulence and survival during human infection. Previously, the putative arginine methyltransferase

gene rmtA was characterized in the model organism Aspergillus nidulans and the opportunistic

plant pathogen Aspergillus flavus, where it was shown to regulate several cellular processes

including morphological development and secondary metabolism. In this study, we characterized

the rmtA gene in A. fumigatus. Our results showed that rmtA influences vegetative growth and

conidiation of this medically important fungus. Deletion and over-expression of rmtA caused

slight reduction in vegetative growth compared to the wild-type strain. Moreover, rmtA is dispensable

during protease production and cell wall stress with SDS. Similarly, assessment of pathogenicity

done in Galleria mellonella resulted in reduced virulence in over-expression strain compared

to wild type. However, we found that rmtA is not involved in environmental stresses like

temperature, pH and osmotic.

Extent

56 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

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