Afyap1, encoding a bZip transcriptional factor of Aspergillus fumigatus, contributes to oxidative stress response but is not essential to the virulence of this pathogen in mice immunosuppressed by cyclophosphamide and triamcinolone.

Aspergillus fumigatus, an important human fungal pathogen, encounters high levels of reactive oxygen species following its ingestion by phagocytes. Reactive oxygen species are important mediators of the fungicidal activities of phagocytes. In yeasts, YAP1 encodes for transcriptional factors that contribute to their oxidative stress response and given the importance of the stress response, we hypothesized that the YAP1 homologue in A. fumigatus plays a similar role in this fungus. In this study, we found that Afyap1, the Yap1 homologue of A. fumigatus, confers protection against oxidative stress. Replacement of Afyap1 with the marker gene pyrG (DeltaAfyap1) resulted in hypersensitivity of A. fumigatus to oxidants such as H(2)O(2) and menadione. In contrast, an A. fumigatus strain harboring multiple-copy Afyap1 was resistant to these two oxidants as well as the oxidant diamide. However, DeltaAfyap1 and strain harboring multiple-copy Afyap1 were comparable in their virulence to a wild-type A. fumigatus strain in a murine model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Afyap1 is involved in oxidative stress response but is not an essential virulence factor for A. fumigatus.