In the cell walls of the pathogenic yeast phases of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Blastomyces dermatitidis and Histoplasma capsulatum, the outer α-(1,3)-glucan layer behaves as a virulence factor. In H. capsulatum, an α-(1,4)-amylase gene (AMY1) is essential for the synthesis of this polysaccharide, hence related to virulence. An orthologous gene to H. capsulatum AMY1 was identified in P. bras...

Intact yeast cells subjected to a punctual electric field (in an electroporator) can be transformed with exogenous DNA (1), indicating that DNA molecules can move into the cell through the cell wall. In pulsed-field electrophoresis, we have also observed that removal of the cell wall is an unnecessary step for the large chromosomal DNA molecules (ranging from 2000 to 240 Kb), as well as for mit...

The cell wall of a human pathogenic fungus is in contact with the host, serves as a barrier against host defense mechanisms and harbors most fungal antigens. In addition, cell wall biosynthesis pathways have been recognized as essential to viability and as specific drug targets. Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is a dimorphic fungus that presents mycelium morphology in the free environment and cau...

An extracellular matrix composed of a layered meshwork of beta-glucans, chitin, and mannoproteins encapsulates cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This organelle determines cellular morphology and plays a critical role in maintaining cell integrity during cell growth and division, under stress conditions, upon cell fusion in mating, and in the durable ascospore cell wall. Here we asses...

A neutralizing epitope fragment of ApxIIA toxin (ApxIIA#5) of the Korean Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 2 strain was expressed and immobilized on the cell surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for efficient vaccine development. Expression of ApxIIA#5 was confirmed by Western blot analysis using cell-wall proteins, and the surface display of ApxIIA#5 was further visualized under confocal...

twenty six rhizobium strains were isolated from root nodules of sesbania sesban (l.) merr. collected from different regions of andhra pradesh. all the 26 rhizobium strains produced indole acetic acid (iaa), but maximum amount was produced by only five strains in yeast extract mannitol  (yem) medium supplemented with l-tryptophan. the strains were found to elaborate maximum iaa when fed with 2.5...