Differential Expression of the Aspergillus fumigatus pksP Gene Detected In Vitro and In Vivo with Green Fluorescent Protein

2001

ABSTRACT Aspergillus fumigatus is an important pathogen of immunocompromised hosts, causing pneumonia and invasive disseminated disease with high mortality. To be able to analyze the expression of putative virulence-associated genes of A. fumigatus , the use of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) as a reporter was established. Two 5′ sequences, containing the putative promoters of the pyrG gene, encoding orotidine-5′-phosphate decarboxylase, and the pksP gene, encoding a polyketide synthase involved in both pigment biosynthesis and virulence of A. fumigatus , were fused with the egfp gene. The P pksP - egfp construct was integrated via homologous recombination into the genomic pks…