The morphological, ecological, and clinical diversity among ascomycete fungi that are pathogenic to humans suggest that the potential for pathogenicity may have arisen multiple times within these higher fungi. We have obtained 18S ribosomal DNA sequences from a diverse group of human pathogenic fungi in order to determine their evolutionary origins. The fungi studied include a skin pathogen tha...

asthma is a complicated disorder, whose prevalence has increased over the past few decades.asthma is characterized by infiltration of inflammatory leukocytes along with enhancedproinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. fungi are now far more widely being considered as thedominant extrinsic trigger for asthma. fungi are linked to the severity of asthma in many ways. somedifferences between studi...

Why are some fungi pathogenic while the majority poses no threat to humans or other hosts? Of the more than 1.5 million fungal species only about 150-300 are pathogenic for humans, and of these, only 10-15 are relatively common pathogens. In contrast, fungi are major pathogens for plants and insects. These facts pose several fundamental questions including the mechanisms responsible for the ori...

BACKGROUND Disease prevention is better than its cure. The role of healthcare worker's hand in the transmission and spread of an infectious disease to the patient is well acknowledged. Indeed, the hands of a health care worker can easily pick potentially pathogenic bacteria and fungi from hand touch surfaces before wearing of gloves. For these microorganisms to multiply rapidly, a moist environ...

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important legume with high nutritional value. In Nicaragua, certified healthy seeds of local bean varieties are not available, and seedborne fungi have gained little attention. Here, were surveyed seedborne pathogenic fungi in an important local bean cultivar, 'INTA Rojo'. Beans grown in the four main production areas in Nicaragua (Boaco, Carazo, Estelí...

Most classical plant hormones are also produced by pathogenic and symbiotic fungi. The way in which these molecules favour the invasion of plant tissues and the development of fungi inside plant tissues is still largely unknown. In this review, we examine the different roles of such hormone production by pathogenic fungi. Converging evidence suggests that these fungal-derived molecules have pot...

The surfaces of aerial plant parts provide a habitat for epiphytic micro-organisms, many of which also influence the growth of pathogens. Bacteria are generally the predominant initial inhabitants of newly expanded leaves, while yeasts and filamentous fungi dominate later in the growing season (Kinkel et al., 1987). A large body of information has been accumulated regarding antagonism between b...

Most land plants are able to form symbiotic associations with fungi, and in many cases these associations are necessary for plant and fungal survival. These plant/fungal associations are formed with mycorrhizal (arbuscular mycorrhizal or ectomycorrhizal) or endophytic fungi, fungi from distinct phylogenetic lineages. While it has been shown that mycorrhizal fungi are able to transfer nutrients ...

Glycosyl hydrolase family 28 (GH28) is a set of structurally related enzymes that hydrolyze glycosidic bonds in pectin, and are important extracellular enzymes for both pathogenic and saprotrophic fungi. Yet, very little is understood about the evolutionary forces driving the diversification of GH28s in fungal genomes. We reconstructed the evolutionary history of family GH28 in fungi by examini...

Cell Biology Department of Biology Institute, Laboratory of Applied Immunology, University of Brasília, 70910-900 Brasília, DF, Brazil Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Interaction between Host-Pathogenic Fungi, Biology Institute, University of Goiás, 74001-970 Goiânia, GO, Brazil Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, B...