Arthroderma benhamiae
Classification
Domain; Phylum; Class; Order; family [Others may be used. Use NCBI link to find]
Species
|
NCBI: [1] |
Genus species
Description and Significance
Describe the appearance, habitat, etc. of the organism, and why you think it is important.
Genome Structure
Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence?
Cell Structure, Metabolism and Life Cycle
Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.
Arthroderma Benhamiae has been studied to use certain biosyntheses of pigments for growth and metabolism. Based on some evidence collected, they connected the pigments to playing an active role in respiration, specifically in the electron transport chain. According to a series of pigment extraction, purification and characterization methods, they found that nitrogen containing amino acid pigments supported growth. They also found that growth was inhibited on the sulfur containing amino acids.
Nitrogen acquisition from the host is imperative for this pathogenic fungus to survive, grow and persist. The dermophytes have a high degree of metabolic flexibility. In the absence of their preferred nitrogen source, they will use amino acids or cetain proteins. To that point, it has been studied that extracellular proteases aid in metabolism of the fungal pathogenic dermophytes like our organism. Acting as a key virulence attribute to the fungus to break down the keratin containing tissues. Their genomes show enrichment of these protease genes which are expressed typically only when in growth on keratin in vitro. This is expected as when they are infecting a host, those specialized genes are up regulated to assist in the degradation of the keratin.
Ecology and Pathogenesis
Habitat; symbiosis; biogeochemical significance; contributions to environment.
If relevant, how does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.
References
Author
Page authored by _____, _____, _____, & _____, students of Prof. Bradley Tolar at UNC Wilmington.
