Arthroderma benhamiae

This student page has not been curated.

Legend. Image credit: Name or Publication.

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

1. GHANI HM. Physiological, Chemical, And Genetic Study Of Pigment Production By Arthroderma Benhamiae. [Order No. 7309154]. The University of Oklahoma; 1972.

2. Ene IV, Brunke S, Brown AJ, Hube B. Metabolism in fungal pathogenesis. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2014;4(12):a019695. Published 2014 Sep 4. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a019695

Author

Page authored by Kathleen Bessette, _____, _____, & _____, students of Prof. Bradley Tolar at UNC Wilmington.