AUTHOR=Fornari Gheniffer , Gomes Renata Rodrigues , Degenhardt-Goldbach Juliana , Santos Suelen Silvana dos , Almeida Sandro Rogério de , Santos Germana Davila dos , Muro Marisol Dominguez , Bona Cleusa , Scola Rosana Herminia , Trindade Edvaldo S. , Bini Israel Henrique , Ferreira-Maba Lisandra Santos , Kestring Daiane Rigoni , Nascimento Mariana Machado Fidelis do , Lima Bruna Jacomel Favoreto de Souza , Voidaleski Morgana F. , Steinmacher Douglas André , Soley Bruna da Silva , Deng Shuwen , Bocca Anamelia Lorenzetti , da Silva Moises B. , Salgado Claudio G. , de Azevedo Conceição Maria Pedroso e Silva , Vicente Vania Aparecida , de Hoog Sybren 

TITLE=A Model for Trans-Kingdom Pathogenicity in Fonsecaea Agents of Human Chromoblastomycosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02211

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.02211

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The fungal genus <italic>Fonsecaea</italic> comprises etiological agents of human chromoblastomycosis, a chronic implantation skin disease. The current hypothesis is that patients acquire the infection through an injury from plant material. The present study aimed to evaluate a model of infection in plant and animal hosts to understand the parameters of trans-kingdom pathogenicity. Clinical strains of causative agents of chromoblastomycosis (<italic>Fonsecaea pedrosoi</italic> and <italic>Fonsecaea monophora</italic>) were compared with a strain of <italic>Fonsecaea erecta</italic> isolated from a living plant. The clinical strains of <italic>F. monophora</italic> and <italic>F. pedrosoi</italic> remained concentrated near the epidermis, whereas <italic>F. erecta</italic> colonized deeper plant tissues, resembling an endophytic behavior. In an invertebrate infection model with larvae of a beetle, <italic>Tenebrio molitor, F. erecta</italic> exhibited the lowest survival rates. However, <italic>F. pedrosoi</italic> produced dark, spherical to ovoidal cells that resembled muriform cells, the invasive form of human chromoblastomycosis confirming the role of muriform cells as a pathogenic adaptation in animal tissues. An immunologic assay in BALB/c mice demonstrated the high virulence of saprobic species in animal models was subsequently controlled via host higher immune response.</p>