FpnA, the Aspergillus fumigatus homolog of human ferroportin, mediates resistance to nickel, cobalt and gallium but does not function in iron homeostasis.

Iron homeostasis is key to both the survival of virtually all organisms and the virulence of fungi including Aspergillus fumigatus, a human fungal pathogen causing life-threatening invasive infections. Unlike the extensively studied fungal species Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, A. fumigatus encodes an uncharacterized homolog of vertebrate ferroportin (Fpn1), termed FpnA.