Basic measurements of radiation at station Minamitorishima (2017-02)

Abstract

<div><p><i>Talaromyces marneffei</i> (Basionym: <i>Penicillium marneffei</i>) is a significant opportunistic fungal pathogen in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus in Southeast Asia. <i>T</i>. <i>marneffei</i> cells have been shown to become melanized <i>in vivo</i>. Melanins are pigment biopolymers which act as a non-specific protectant against various stressors and which play an important role during virulence in fungi. The synthesis of the two most commonly found melanins in fungi, the eumelanin DOPA-melanin and the allomelanin DHN-melanin, requires the action of laccase enzymes. The <i>T</i>. <i>marneffei</i> genome encodes a number of laccases and this study describes the characterization of one of these, <i>pbrB</i>, during growth and development. A strain carrying a PbrB-GFP fusion shows that <i>pbrB</i> is expressed at high levels during asexual development (conidiation) but not in cells growing vegetatively. The <i>pbrB</i> gene is required for the synthesis of DHN-melanin in conidia and when deleted results in brown pigmented conidia, in contrast to the green conidia of the wild type.</p></div