The XXXX septins play pleiotropic roles in septation, conidiation, and cell wall stress, but are dispensable for virulence.

@entity1 @entity32 @entity19 @entity1327 @entity14940 @entity5132 @entity54 @entity3 @entity8812 @entity375
UNASSIGNED: Septins are a conserved family of GTPases that regulate important cellular processes such as cell wall integrity, and septation in fungi. The requirement of septins for virulence has been demonstrated in the @entity1 pathogenic @entity375 @entity5132 and @entity1327 , as well as the plant pathogen @entity8812 . @entity54 spp. contains five genes encoding for septins (aspA-E). While the importance of septins AspA, AspB, AspC, and AspE for growth and conidiation has been elucidated in the filamentous fungal model @entity14940 , nothing is known on the role of septins in growth and virulence in the @entity1 pathogen @entity54 . Here we deleted all five A. fumigatus septins, and generated certain double and triple septin deletion strains. Phenotypic analyses revealed that while all the septins are dispensable in normal growth conditions, AspA, AspB, AspC and AspE are required for regular septation. Furthermore, deletion of only the core septin genes significantly reduced conidiation. Concomitant with the absence of an electron-dense outer conidial wall, the   aspB strain was also sensitive to anti-cell wall agents. Infection with the   aspB strain in a Galleria mellonella model of @entity3 showed hypervirulence, but no virulence difference was noted when compared to the wild-type strain in a @entity19 model of @entity3 . Although the deletion of aspB resulted in increased release of TNF-a from the macrophages, no significant @entity32 differences in lung histology was noted between the   aspB strain and the wild-type strain. Taken together, these results point to the importance of septins in A. fumigatus growth, but not virulence in a @entity19 model.
