Publications by authors named "Tamara Lea Doering"
is an important fungal pathogen, responsible for over 140,000 deaths per year worldwide. Like other yeasts, relies on ergosterol as its major membrane sterol and carefully regulates its synthesis and distribution. Ergosterol is also targeted by two of the three compound classes currently used to treat cryptococcal infection.
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- Scientists studied a fungus called Cryptococcus neoformans, which can be very deadly, affecting over 112,000 people each year.
- They used special genetic methods to find out which tiny changes in the fungus's DNA make it more harmful.
- They discovered an important change in a gene called PDE2 that weakens the fungus's ability to cause sickness, showing how they can find important genetic clues without needing to know everything first.
How sweet it is! Cell wall biogenesis and polysaccharide capsule formation in Cryptococcus neoformans.
Annu Rev Microbiol
October 2009
Cryptococcus neoformans is a pathogenic fungus responsible for severe opportunistic infections. The most prominent feature of this yeast is its elaborate polysaccharide capsule, a complex structure that is required for virulence. The capsule is intimately associated with the cell wall, which underlies the capsule and offers the organism strength and flexibility in potentially hostile environments.
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