Culturing and Mating of Aspergillus fumigatus

Ashton, George D.; Dyer, Paul S.

Abstract

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 2009, with methods described to induce mating under laboratory conditions. The presence of a sexual cycle now offers a valuable tool for classical genetic analysis of the fungus, such as allowing determination of whether traits of interest are mono- or poly-genic in nature. For example, the sexual cycle is currently being exploited to determine the genetic basis of traits of medical importance such as resistance to azole antifungals and virulence, and to characterise the genes involved. The sexual cycle can also be used to assess the possibility of gene flow between isolates.

This unit describes protocols for culturing of A. fumigatus and for inducing sexual reproduction between compatible MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 isolates of the species. The unit also provides working methods for harvesting sexual structures, isolating single-spore progeny and confirming whether sexual recombination has occurred.

Citation

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

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 24, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jul 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jun 3, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 2, 2020
• Journal: Current Protocols in Microbiology
• Print ISSN: 1934-8525
• Electronic ISSN: 1934-8533
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: e87
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cpmc.87
• Keywords: Microbiology; Parasitology; Virology; General Medicine
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2129661
• Publisher URL: https://currentprotocols.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpmc.87
• Additional Information: Published: 2019-07-01