煙曲霉（Aspergillus fumigatus）是一種重要的致病菌,，煙曲霉進(jìn)入人體后,，能引起多重變應(yīng)性和侵入性疾病,，支氣管肺病屬于侵入性曲霉病最普通的臨床表現(xiàn)。屬于子囊菌類,，它能夠產(chǎn)生菌絲體,。通過從菌絲體釋放出來的無性孢子進(jìn)行傳播，這種孢子是一種極為堅固,、生命力持久的芽胞,。
（生物谷注：煙曲霉閉囊殼電鏡照片）
盡管越來越多的證據(jù)表明，“煙曲霉”存在重組和基因流動,，但此前在該物種中只觀察到無性生殖?，F(xiàn)在，在該真菌被定性145年之后,，它被發(fā)現(xiàn)是有性生殖的,。本期Nature報告了有兩個互補(bǔ)交配類型的分離菌種。這一研究的意義包括,，人們有可能進(jìn)行經(jīng)典的遺傳分析,，而這種分析又能幫助研究這種真菌致病作用及對抗菌劑產(chǎn)生抵抗力的遺傳基礎(chǔ)。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature 457, 471-474 (22 January 2009) | doi:10.1038/nature07528
Discovery of a sexual cycle in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus
Céline M. O'Gorman1,2, Hubert T. Fuller1 & Paul S. Dyer2
1 UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
2 School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprotrophic fungus whose spores are ubiquitous in the atmosphere1. It is also an opportunistic human pathogen in immunocompromised individuals, causing potentially lethal invasive infections2, 3, and is associated with severe asthma and sinusitis4. The species is only known to reproduce by asexual means5, but there has been accumulating evidence for recombination and gene flow from population genetic studies5, 6, 7, 8, genome analysis9, 10, the presence of mating-type genes8, 10 and expression of sex-related genes8 in the fungus. Here we show that A. fumigatus possesses a fully functional sexual reproductive cycle that leads to the production of cleistothecia and ascospores, and the teleomorph Neosartorya fumigata is described. The species has a heterothallic breeding system; isolates of complementary mating types are required for sex to occur. We demonstrate increased genotypic variation resulting from recombination between mating type and DNA fingerprint markers in ascospore progeny from an Irish environmental subpopulation. The ability of A. fumigatus to engage in sexual reproduction is highly significant in understanding the biology and evolution of the species. The presence of a sexual cycle provides an invaluable tool for classical genetic analyses and will facilitate research into the genetic basis of pathogenicity and fungicide resistance in A. fumigatus, with the aim of improving methods for the control of aspergillosis. These results also yield insights into the potential for sexual reproduction in other supposedly 'asexual' fungi.
