Stress response in medically important Mucorales. Issue 10 (13th June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Singh, Pankaj; Paul, Saikat; Shivaprakash, M. Rudramurthy; Chakrabarti, Arunaloke; Ghosh, Anup K.
• Is Part Of: Mycoses. Volume 59:Issue 10(2016)
• Page Start: 628
• Page End: 635
• Publication Date: 2016-06-13
• Subjects: Mucorales -- stress response -- pH; Pathogenic fungi -- Periodicals; Medical mycology -- Periodicals; 616.969
• DOI: 10.1111/myc.12512
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0933-7407

Abstract

Summary: Mucorales are saprobes, ubiquitously distributed and able to infect a heterogeneous population of human hosts. The fungi require robust stress responses to survive in human host. We tested the growth of Mucorales in the presence of different abiotic stress. Eight pathogenic species of Mucorales, including Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizopus microsporus, Rhizomucor pusillus, Apophysomyces elegans, Licthemia corymbifera, Cunninghamella bertholletiae, S yncephalastrum racemosum and Mucor racemosus, were exposed to different stress inducers: osmotic (sodium chloride andd ‐sorbitol), oxidative (hydrogen peroxide and menadione), pH, cell wall and metal ions (Cu, Zn, Fe and Mg). Wide variation in stress responses was noted: R. arrhizus showed maximum resistance to both osmotic and oxidative stresses, whereas R. pusillus and M. indicus were relatively sensitive. Rhizopus arrhizus and R. microsporus showed maximum resistance to alkaline pH, whereas C. bertholletiae, L. corymbifera, M. racemosus and A. elegans were resistant to acidic pH. Maximum tolerance was noted in R. microsporus to Cu, R. microsporus and R. arrhizus to Fe and C. bertholletiae to Zn. In contrast, L. corymbifera, A. elegans and M. indicus were sensitive to Cu, Zn and Fe respectively. In conclusion, R. arrhizus showed high stress tolerance in comparison to other species of Mucorales, and this could be the possible reason for high pathogenic potential of this fungi.