All Outputs (17)

Identification of an a-factor-like pheromone secreted by the heterothallic ascomycete Aspergillus fumigatus (2025)
Journal Article
Krappmann, S., Gabl, E., Pazen, T., Heizmann, A., Pöggeler, S., Krüger, T., Kniemeyer, O., Einsiedel, J., Gmeiner, P., Yu, Y., Dyer, P. S., Baker, S. E., & Nowrousian, M. (online). Identification of an a-factor-like pheromone secreted by the heterothallic ascomycete Aspergillus fumigatus. Current Biology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.080

Members of the fungal kingdom serve as models for numerous cellular processes, among them sexuality. In heterothallic ascomycetes, mating-type systems ensure that only compatible isolates fuse to enter the sexual phase. This includes reciprocal secre... Read More about Identification of an a-factor-like pheromone secreted by the heterothallic ascomycete Aspergillus fumigatus.

Comparative genomics of Aspergillus nidulans and section Nidulantes (2025)
Journal Article
Theobald, S., Vesth, T., Nybo, J. L., Frisvad, J. C., Kjærbølling, I., Mondo, S., LaButti, K., Haridas, S., Riley, R., Kuo, A. A., Salamov, A. A., Pangilinan, J., Lipzen, A., Koriabine, M., Yan, M., Barry, K., Clum, A., Lyhne, E. K., Drula, E., Wiebenga, A., …Andersen, M. R. (2025). Comparative genomics of Aspergillus nidulans and section Nidulantes. Current Research in Microbial Sciences, 8, Article 100342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crmicr.2025.100342

Aspergillus nidulans is an important model organism for eukaryotic biology and the reference for the section Nidulantes in comparative studies. In this study, we de novo sequenced the genomes of 25 species of this section. Whole-genome phylogeny of 3... Read More about Comparative genomics of Aspergillus nidulans and section Nidulantes.

Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan (2024)
Journal Article
Usman, M., Dyer, P. S., Brock, M., Wade, C. M., & Khalid, A. N. (2024). Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan. MycoKeys, 102, 285-299. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.102.113310

Members of the lichen-forming fungal genus Oxneriaria are known to occur in cold polar and high altitudinal environments. Two new species, Oxneriaria crittendenii and O. deosaiensis, are now described from the high altitude Deosai Plains, Pakistan, b... Read More about Two novel species of arctic-alpine lichen-forming fungi (Ascomycota, Megasporaceae) from the Deosai Plains, Pakistan.

The human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus can produce the highest known number of meiotic crossovers (2023)
Journal Article
Auxier, B., Debets, A. J., Rhodes, J., Stanford, F. A., Becker, F. M., Marquez, F. R., Nijland, R., Dyer, P. S., Fisher, M. C., den Heuvel, J. V., & Snelders, E. (2023). The human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus can produce the highest known number of meiotic crossovers. PLoS Biology, 21(9), Article e3002278. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002278

Sexual reproduction involving meiosis is essential in most eukaryotes. This produces offspring with novel genotypes, both by segregation of parental chromosomes as well as crossovers between homologous chromosomes. A sexual cycle for the opportunisti... Read More about The human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus can produce the highest known number of meiotic crossovers.

A new species of the genus Anamylopsora (Baeomycetaceae; Ascomycota) from Deosai National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan (2023)
Journal Article
Usman, M., Firdous, Q., Dyer, P. S., & Khalid, A. N. (2023). A new species of the genus Anamylopsora (Baeomycetaceae; Ascomycota) from Deosai National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Lichenologist, https://doi.org/10.1017/s002428292300018x

A novel lichen species occurring on rocks was collected from three different localities within Deosai National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Phylogenetic analyses of the nrDNA ITS and nuLSU regions revealed that it clustered within the genus Anam... Read More about A new species of the genus Anamylopsora (Baeomycetaceae; Ascomycota) from Deosai National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

Local-scale panmixia in the lichenized fungus Xanthoria parietina contrasts with substantial genetic structure in its Trebouxia photobionts (2023)
Journal Article
Wyczanska, M., Wacker, K., Dyer, P. S., & Werth, S. (2023). Local-scale panmixia in the lichenized fungus Xanthoria parietina contrasts with substantial genetic structure in its Trebouxia photobionts. Lichenologist, 55(2), 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002428292300004X

Microsatellite markers can provide valuable information about gene flow and population history. We developed and tested new microsatellites for the nitrophilic lichenized fungus Xanthoria parietina and studied its genetic diversity and structure with... Read More about Local-scale panmixia in the lichenized fungus Xanthoria parietina contrasts with substantial genetic structure in its Trebouxia photobionts.

Comparison of the behavior of fungal and plant cell wall during gastrointestinal digestion and resulting health effects: A review (2021)
Journal Article
Colosimo, R., Warren, F. J., Edwards, C. H., Ryden, P., Dyer, P. S., Finnigan, T. J., & Wilde, P. J. (2021). Comparison of the behavior of fungal and plant cell wall during gastrointestinal digestion and resulting health effects: A review. Trends in Food Science and Technology, 110, 132-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.001

Background; The structure of many plant- and fungal-based foods is determined by cell walls which are the primary source of dietary fiber. Several studies have shown that consumption of cell wall fibers from plants and fungi can modulate digestion le... Read More about Comparison of the behavior of fungal and plant cell wall during gastrointestinal digestion and resulting health effects: A review.

Global sexual fertility in the opportunistic pathogen aspergillus fumigatus and identification of new supermater strains (2020)
Journal Article
Swilaiman, S. S., O’Gorman, C. M., Du, W., Sugui, J. A., Del Buono, J., Brock, M., Kwon-Chung, K. J., Szakacs, G., & Dyer, P. S. (2020). Global sexual fertility in the opportunistic pathogen aspergillus fumigatus and identification of new supermater strains. Journal of Fungi, 6(4), Article 258. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6040258

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. A sexual cycle in Aspergillus fumigatus was first described in 2009 with isolates from Dublin, Ireland. However, the extent to which worldwide isolates can undergo sexual reproduction has rema... Read More about Global sexual fertility in the opportunistic pathogen aspergillus fumigatus and identification of new supermater strains.

Culturing and Mating of Aspergillus fumigatus (2019)
Journal Article
Ashton, G. D., & Dyer, P. S. (2019). Culturing and Mating of Aspergillus fumigatus. Current Protocols in Microbiology, 54(1), Article e87. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpmc.87

Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen, capable of causing invasive aspergillosis in patients with compromised immune systems. The fungus was long considered a purely asexual organism. However, a sexual cycle was reported in... Read More about Culturing and Mating of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Whole-genome sequence data uncover widespread heterothallism in the largest group of lichen-forming fungi (2019)
Journal Article
Pizarro, D., Dal Grande, F., Don Leavitt, S., Stanley Dyer, P., Schmitt, I., Crespo, A., Thorsten Lumbsch, H., & Kumar Divakar, P. (2019). Whole-genome sequence data uncover widespread heterothallism in the largest group of lichen-forming fungi. Genome Biology and Evolution, 11(3), 721-730. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evz027

Fungal reproduction is regulated by the mating-type (MAT1) locus, which typically comprises two idiomorphic genes. The presence of one or both allelic variants at the locus determines the reproductive strategy in Fungi – homothallism vs. heterothalli... Read More about Whole-genome sequence data uncover widespread heterothallism in the largest group of lichen-forming fungi.

Evolution of asexual and sexual reproduction in the aspergilli (2018)
Journal Article
Ojeda-López, M., Chen, W., Eagle, C., Gutiérrez, G., Jia, W., Swilaiman, S., Huang, Z., Park, H.-S., Yu, J.-H., Cánovas, D., & Dyer, P. (2018). Evolution of asexual and sexual reproduction in the aspergilli. Studies in Mycology, 91, 37-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simyco.2018.10.002

© 2018 Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute Aspergillus nidulans has long-been used as a model organism to gain insights into the genetic basis of asexual and sexual developmental processes both in other members of the genus Aspergillus, and fila... Read More about Evolution of asexual and sexual reproduction in the aspergilli.

Comparative genomics reveals high biological diversity and specific adaptations in the industrially and medically important fungal genus Aspergillus (2017)
Journal Article
Vries, R. P. D., Riley, R., Wiebenga, A., Aguilar-Osorio, G., Amillis, S., Akemi Uchima, C., Anderluh, G., Asaollahi, M., Askin, M., Barry, K., Battaglia, E., Bayram, O., Benocci, T., Braus-Stromeyer, S. A., Caldana, C., Cánovas, D., Cerqueira, G. C., Chen, F., Chen, W., Choi, C., …Grigoriev, I. V. (2017). Comparative genomics reveals high biological diversity and specific adaptations in the industrially and medically important fungal genus Aspergillus. Genome Biology, 18, Article 28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1151-0

Background: The fungal genus Aspergillus is of critical importance to humankind. Species include those with industrial applications, important pathogens of humans, animals and crops, a source of potent carcinogenic contaminants of food, and an import... Read More about Comparative genomics reveals high biological diversity and specific adaptations in the industrially and medically important fungal genus Aspergillus.

Phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi: Importance and methodology (2016)
Journal Article
Hewitt, S. K., Foster, D. S., Dyer, P. S., & Avery, S. V. (2016). Phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi: Importance and methodology. Fungal Biology Reviews, 30(4), 176-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbr.2016.09.002

Phenotypic heterogeneity describes the variation that exists between individual cells, spores or other biological entities within genetically-uniform populations of fungi or other organisms. Studies over the last 10–-15 years have successfully used l... Read More about Phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi: Importance and methodology.

Sexual reproduction of human fungal pathogens (2014)
Journal Article
Heitman, J., Carter, D. A., Dyer, P. S., & Soll, D. R. (in press). Sexual reproduction of human fungal pathogens. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 4(8), Article a019281. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a019281

We review here recent advances in our understanding of sexual reproduction in fungal pathogens that commonly infect humans, including Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans/gattii, and Aspergillus fumigatus. Where appropriate or relevant, we intro... Read More about Sexual reproduction of human fungal pathogens.

Differences in MAT gene distribution and expression between Rhynchosporium species on grasses (2014)
Journal Article
King, K., West, J., Fitt, B., & Dyer, P. S. (2015). Differences in MAT gene distribution and expression between Rhynchosporium species on grasses. Plant Pathology, 64(2), https://doi.org/10.1111/ppa.12265

Leaf blotch is a globally important disease of barley crops and other grasses that is caused by at least five host-specialized species in the fungal genus Rhynchosporium. The pathogen R. commune (specialized to barley, brome-grass and Italian ryegras... Read More about Differences in MAT gene distribution and expression between Rhynchosporium species on grasses.

Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress (2013)
Journal Article
Holland, S. L., Reader, T., Dyer, P. S., & Avery, S. V. (2014). Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress. Environmental Microbiology, 16(6), 1729-1740. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.12243

Populations of genetically uniform microorganisms exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, where individual cells have varying phenotypes. Such phenotypes include fitness-determining traits. Phenotypic heterogeneity has been linked to increased population-l... Read More about Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress.

Sexual reproduction and mating-type-mediated strain development in the penicillin-producing fungus Penicillium chrysogenum (2013)
Journal Article
Böhm, J., Hoff, B., O'Gorman, C. M., Wolfers, S., Klix, V., Binger, D., Zadra, I., Kürnsteiner, H., Pöggeler, S., Dyer, P. S., & Kück, U. (2013). Sexual reproduction and mating-type-mediated strain development in the penicillin-producing fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(4), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1217943110

Penicillium chrysogenum is a filamentous fungus of major medical and historical importance, being the original and present-day industrial source of the antibiotic penicillin. The species has been considered asexual for more than 100 y, and despite co... Read More about Sexual reproduction and mating-type-mediated strain development in the penicillin-producing fungus Penicillium chrysogenum.