This book provides an in-depth overview on the manifold functions of fungal extracellular vesicles (EV) which span from cell-to-cell communication, pathogenicity and stimulation of host's immunity to export of hundreds of biomolecules. The book summarizes the present knowledge on the impact of extracellular vesicles on fungal biology. Extracellular vesicles participate in fundamental biological processes in all living cells but only during the last 15 years the production and functions of EVs were identified and studied in fungal species too. Up to date more than 50 independent studies have shown that extracellular vesicles are produced by at least 20 fungal species. The book addresses researchers and advanced students in Microbiology, Mycology and Biotechnology.

Autorentext

Marcio Rodrigues is a senior investigator at the Carlos Chagas Institute (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Fiocruz; Brazil). His laboratory is mainly interested in the mechanisms by which fungal cells export biologically active molecules to the extracellular space. In collaboration with Drs. Arturo Casadevall, Leonardo Nimrichter and Kildare Miranda, all authors in this volume, Marcio Rodrigues led the discovery of fungal extracellular vesicles in 2007. His laboratory has been investigating the role of extracellular vesicles in fungal physiology and pathogenesis for the last decade, mainly using the Cryptococcus model of secretion. The group is especially interested in how lipids and glycans participate in secretory processes that are essential for fungi, aiming to connect basic cell biology mechanisms with the identification of cellular pathways that could be targeted by novel antifungal agents. Guilhem Janbon is the head of the Unit RNA Biology in Fungal Pathogens and the director of the Department of Mycology of the Institute Pasteur in Paris (France). He has very long experience working and publishing papers dealing with different aspects of pathogenic or non-pathogenic fungi. His laboratory study different aspect of the RNA biology of some pathogenic fungi. His group is also interested in the analysis of the structure and genetics of fungal EVs. Since recently, in collaboration with Drs. Marcio Rodrigues and R May, his laboratory has been using the most updated technologies to revisit fungal EV structure and to study their diversity of shape, size and structure.

Inhalt

Fungal extracellular vesicles: an overview

Experimental approaches for the study of fungal extracellular vesicles

Biogenesis of fungal extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles and antifungal immunity

Vesicle-mediated export of nucleic acids

Cryptococcus extracellular vesicles

Candida extracellular vesicles

Histoplasma extracellular vesicles

Malassezia extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles and filamentous fungi

Biofilms, drug resistance and fungal extracellular vesicles

Cellular communication, virulence and fungal extracellular vesicles

Confirmed contributors so far:

Robin May (University of Birmingham, UK)

Arturo Casadevall (Johns Hopkins University, USA) David Andes (University of Wiscosin, USA)

Josh Nosanchuk (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA)

Tereza Gonçalves (University of Coimbra, Portugal)

Lys Alves (Fiocruz, Brazil)

Fausto Almeida (University of Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Leo Nimrichter (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Kildare Miranda (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)