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Infection and Immunity, March 1999, p. 1238-1244, Vol. 67, No. 3
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Association of a Myosin Immunoanalogue with Cell Envelopes of Aspergillus fumigatus Conidia and Its Participation in Swelling and Germination

Karine Esnault,1 Brahim el Moudni,2 Jean-Philippe Bouchara,1 Dominique Chabasse,1 and Guy Tronchin1,*

Groupe d'Etude des Interactions Hôte-Parasite, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, 49033 Angers,1 and EA 1720, Unité de Recherche en Biologie Parasitaire et Fongique, Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Mycologie Médicale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire La Milétrie, 86021 Poitiers,2 France

Received 9 June 1998/Returned for modification 30 July 1998/Accepted 22 December 1998

A myosin immunoanalogue was identified in conidia of Aspergillus fumigatus by Western blotting, indirect immunofluorescence assay, and gold immunoelectron microscopy with two different antimyosin antibodies. The distribution pattern of this protein was followed during the early stages of germination. A single 180-kDa polypeptide, detected predominantly in a cell envelope extract, was found to cross-react with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies raised against vertebrate muscle myosin. Immunoelectron microscopy permitted precise localization of this polypeptide, indicating that myosin analogue was mainly distributed along the plasma membrane of resting and swollen conidia. In germinating conidia, indirect immunofluorescence microscopy revealed myosin analogue at the periphery of germ tubes, whereas actin appeared as dispersed punctate structures in the cytoplasm that were more concentrated at the site of germ tube emergence. A myosin ATPase inhibitor, butanedione monoxime, greatly reduced swelling and blocked germination. In contrast, when conidia were treated with cytochalasin B, an inhibitor of actin polymerization, swelling was not affected and germination was only partially reduced. Butanedione monoxime-treated conidia showed accumulation of cytoplasmic vesicles and did not achieve cell wall reorganization, unlike swollen conidia. Collectively, these results suggest an essential role for this myosin analogue in the deposition of cell wall components during germination of A. fumigatus conidia and therefore in host tissue colonization.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Groupe d'Etude des Interactions Hôte-Parasite, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, 4 rue Larrey, 49033 Angers Cedex 01, France. Phone: 33 02 41 35 34 72. Fax: 33 02 41 35 36 16. E-mail: Parasitologie{at}chu_angers.fr.

Infection and Immunity, March 1999, p. 1238-1244, Vol. 67, No. 3
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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