Synergistic fight against future pandemics: Lessons from previous pandemics.

The history of pandemics spans centuries and has had a profound impact on human health, societies, and economies. Pandemics have caused fear, panic, and significant morbidity and mortality rates throughout history. From the Athenian Plague in 430 BC to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases have posed a continuous threat to global health systems.

Genome-wide analyses of light-regulated genes in Aspergillus nidulans reveal a complex interplay between different photoreceptors and novel photoreceptor functions.

Fungi sense light of different wavelengths using blue-, green-, and red-light photoreceptors. Blue light sensing requires the "white-collar" proteins with flavin as chromophore, and red light is sensed through phytochrome. Here we analyzed genome-wide gene expression changes caused by short-term, low-light intensity illumination with blue-, red- or far-red light in Aspergillus nidulans and found that more than 1100 genes were differentially regulated.

The sulfur metabolism regulator MetR is a global regulator controlling phytochrome-dependent light responses in Aspergillus nidulans.

Phytochrome-dependent light signaling has been studied in several fungi. In Aspergillus nidulans light-stimulated phytochrome activates the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signaling pathway and thereby controls the expression of a large number of genes, many of which are related to stress responses. In a genome-wide expression analysis in A.

Transcriptomic and Functional Studies of the RGS Protein Rax1 in Aspergillus fumigatus.

In the comparative transcriptomic studies of wild type (WT) and rax1 null mutant strains, we obtained an average of 22,222,727 reads of 101 bp per sample and found that 183 genes showed greater than 2.0-fold differential expression, where 92 and 91 genes were up-and down-regulated in rax1 compared to WT, respectively. In accordance with the significantly reduced levels of gliM and casB transcripts in the absence of rax1, the rax1 mutant exhibited increased sensitivity to exogenous gliotoxin (GT) without affecting levels of GT production.

Two hybrid histidine kinases, TcsB and the phytochrome FphA, are involved in temperature sensing in Aspergillus nidulans.

The adaptation of microorganisms to different temperatures is an advantage in habitats with steadily changing conditions and raises the question about temperature sensing. Here we show that in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, the hybrid histidine kinase TcsB and phytochrome are involved in temperature-induced gene transcription. Temperature-activated phytochrome fed the signal into the HOG MAP kinase pathway.

Red- and Blue-Light Sensing in the Plant Pathogen Alternaria alternata Depends on Phytochrome and the White-Collar Protein LreA.

The filamentous fungus is a common postharvest contaminant of food and feed, and some strains are plant pathogens. Many processes in are triggered by light. Interestingly, blue light inhibits sporulation, and red light reverses the effect, suggesting interactions between light-sensing systems.

Characterization of the rax1 gene encoding a putative regulator of G protein signaling in Aspergillus fumigatus.

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is the major cause of life threatening invasive aspergillosis, and its small hydrophobic asexual spores (conidia) are the major infection agent. To better understand biology of A. fumigatus, we have characterized the rax1 gene encoding a putative regulator of G protein signaling (RGS).