Genomic sequence of the pathogenic and allergenic filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus

Genomes with influence More than 300 labs worldwide are using the fungus Aspergillus nidulans as a model system for molecular genetics, and other species of this fungus are important in everyday life. A package of three genomics papers in this issue covers the Aspergillus field comprehensively. Galagan et al . report the genome sequence of the laboratory classic A. nidulans , and Nierman et al . have sequenced A. fumigatus , known chiefly as a human pathogen and allergen. And finally Machida et al . present genome sequencing and analysis of A. oryzae , focusing in particular on the expansion of genes in its genome, which is almost 25% bigger than the other two genomes. A. oryzae is used in traditional Chinese and Japanese food fermentation (think soy sauce) and also in enzyme production by biotechnologists. Aspergillus fumigatus is exceptional among microorganisms in being both a primary and opportunistic pathogen as well as a major allergen 1 , 2 , 3 . Its conidia production is prolific, and so human respiratory tract exposure is almost constant 4 . A. fumigatus is isolated from human habitats 5 and vegetable compost heaps 6 , 7 . In immunocompromised individuals, the incidence of invasive infection can be as high as 50% and the mortality rate is often about 50% (ref. 2 ). The interaction of A. fumigatus and other airborne fungi with the immune system is increasingly linked to severe asthma and sinusitis 8 . Although the burden of invasive disease caused by A. fumigatus is substantial, the basic biology of the organism is mostly obscure. Here we show the complete 29.4-megabase genome sequence of the clinical isolate Af293, which consists of eight chromosomes containing 9,926 predicted genes. Microarray analysis revealed temperature-dependent expression of distinct sets of genes, as well as 700 A. fumigatus genes not present or significantly diverged in the closely related sexual species Neosartorya fischeri , many of which may have roles in the pathogenicity phenotype. The Af293 genome sequence provides an unparalleled resource for the future understanding of this remarkable fungus.