About this Research Topic
Phosphorylation is the most important post-translational modification process for proteins that play critical roles in growth, cell cycle control, differentiation, development, the stress response and adaptation, and many other cellular processes in eukaryotic organisms. Supporting it, approximately 30% of eukaryotic proteins are known to be controlled by phosphorylation. Phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of proteins, lipids, and other cellular molecules are reversible processes promoted by kinases and phosphatases, respectively. Particularly, kinases have been appreciated as the second important clinical drug targets next to G-protein coupled receptors. Due to these reasons, kinases and phosphatases have also been extensively studied to understand the fungal pathogenesis past decades.
Indeed, almost all signaling pathways critical for human and plant fungal pathogens have been shown to be mediated by either kinases and phosphatases (or both). These include the protein kinase A in the cyclic AMP pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), calcineurin phosphatases in the calcium/calmodulin pathway, Ire1 kinase/endoribonuclease in the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, protein kinase C, and so on. More recently, a large-scale genome-wide functional analyses of human and plant fungal kinases provided even more broader insight into the kinome and phosphatome networks in fungal pathogens. Nevertheless, a comprehensive picture of the complex kinome and phosphatome signaling networks in fungal pathogens is still far from complete understanding, considering the large number of kinases and phosphatases (about 2-3% of the fungal genome, respectively).
Therefore, in this Research Topic, we invite papers on the following topics regarding the fungal pathogenicity-related kinases and phosphatases: 1) addressing the role of a kinase and/or a phosphatase involved in fungal pathogenicity and its regulatory mechanism, 2) addressing the crosstalks among known or unknown kinase/phosphatase-dependent signaling pathways and their contribution to fungal pathogenicity, and 3) reporting therapeutic options targeting fungal pathogenicity-related kinases and phosphatases for treatment of fungal diseases.
In addition to these suggested themes, we will welcome any papers that are potentially related to fungal pathogenicity-related kinases and phosphatases.
Indeed, almost all signaling pathways critical for human and plant fungal pathogens have been shown to be mediated by either kinases and phosphatases (or both). These include the protein kinase A in the cyclic AMP pathway, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), calcineurin phosphatases in the calcium/calmodulin pathway, Ire1 kinase/endoribonuclease in the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway, protein kinase C, and so on. More recently, a large-scale genome-wide functional analyses of human and plant fungal kinases provided even more broader insight into the kinome and phosphatome networks in fungal pathogens. Nevertheless, a comprehensive picture of the complex kinome and phosphatome signaling networks in fungal pathogens is still far from complete understanding, considering the large number of kinases and phosphatases (about 2-3% of the fungal genome, respectively).
Therefore, in this Research Topic, we invite papers on the following topics regarding the fungal pathogenicity-related kinases and phosphatases: 1) addressing the role of a kinase and/or a phosphatase involved in fungal pathogenicity and its regulatory mechanism, 2) addressing the crosstalks among known or unknown kinase/phosphatase-dependent signaling pathways and their contribution to fungal pathogenicity, and 3) reporting therapeutic options targeting fungal pathogenicity-related kinases and phosphatases for treatment of fungal diseases.
In addition to these suggested themes, we will welcome any papers that are potentially related to fungal pathogenicity-related kinases and phosphatases.
Keywords: Kinase, kinome, phosphatase, phosphatome, phosphorylation, dephosphorylation, virulence
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
