Endemic Mycoses in Immunocompromised Hosts

Endemic mycoses remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among immunocompromised patients. As the number of immunosuppressed individuals increases worldwide, the incidence of endemic mycoses is also expected to rise. In immunocompromised patients, endemic mycoses can present in atypical fashion, cause more severe and/or disseminated disease, and result in higher mortality. Despite several noteworthy advances over the past decade, significant challenges remain with regard to the prevention, diagnosis and therapy of endemic mycoses in immunocompromised hosts. This review highlights important developments related to the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of commonly encountered endemic mycoses. We also discuss emerging topics, knowledge gaps and areas of future research

Role of Genomics and RNA-seq in Studies of Fungal Virulence

Since its introduction in the last decade, massive parallel sequencing, or "next-generation sequencing", has revolutionized our access to genomic information, providing accurate data with increasingly higher yields and lower costs with respect to first-generation technology. Massive parallel sequencing of cDNA, or RNA-seq, is progressively replacing array-based technology as the method of choice for transcriptomics. This review describes some of the most recent applications of next-generation sequencing technology to the study of pathogenic fungi, including Candida, Aspergillus and Cryptococcusspecies. Several integrated approaches illustrate the power and accuracy of RNA-seq for studying the biology of human fungal pathogens. In addition, the lack of consistency in data analysis is discussed.Copyright: "It is fully accessible to all users at libraries and institutions that have purchased a SpringerLink license. If your article is published under one of our Open Access programs, it will be freely accessible to any user." Also, the journal is "Current Fungal Infection Reports", not the "Current Rheumatology" I used. This new journal was not on the list. Please add it.Have asked Research for journal to be added ([email protected]) 2012-11-23 J

Allergens/Antigens, Toxins and Polyketides of Important Aspergillus Species

The medical, agricultural and biotechnological importance of the primitive eukaryotic microorganisms, the Fungi was recognized way back in 1920. Among various groups of fungi, the Aspergillus species are studied in great detail using advances in genomics and proteomics to unravel biological and molecular mechanisms in these fungi. Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus terreus are some of the important species relevant to human, agricultural and biotechnological applications. The potential of Aspergillus species to produce highly diversified complex biomolecules such as multifunctional proteins (allergens, antigens, enzymes) and polyketides is fascinating and demands greater insight into the understanding of these fungal species for application to human health. Recently a regulator gene for secondary metabolites, LaeA has been identified. Gene mining based on LaeA has facilitated new metabolites with antimicrobial activity such as emericellamides and antitumor activity such as terrequinone A from A. nidulans. Immunoproteomic approach was reported for identification of few novel allergens for A. fumigatus. In this context, the review is focused on recent developments in allergens, antigens, structural and functional diversity of the polyketide synthases that produce polyketides of pharmaceutical and biological importance. Possible antifungal drug targets for development of effective antifungal drugs and new strategies for development of molecular diagnostics are considered