Cell surface properties of XXXX conidia: correlation between adherence, agglutination, and rearrangements of the cell wall.

@entity10283 @entity852 @entity1880 @entity3902 @entity2822 @entity54 @entity460 @entity3363 @entity214
Culture conditions that lead to swelling and germination dramatically influence cell surface characteristics and properties of @entity54 conidia. Conidial adherence to @entity852 and agglutination markedly increased during swelling, in a time-dependent manner. Agglutination appeared to be sensitive to @entity1880 and @entity460 . Removal of cell wall polysaccharides by lyticase or @entity10283 suppressed agglutination of conidia. Proteinase K weakly decreased it whereas @entity3902 strongly dispersed the cells. These observations suggest that both cell surface @entity3363 and proteins are involved in the agglutination process. Electron microscopic observations demonstrated that the cell wall of conidia was subject to some rearrangements during swelling, involving degradation and loss of the external convoluted layer, and subsequent exposure of underlying ligands. This was confirmed using lectins labelled with gold or @entity2822 , which showed that some @entity3363 , particularly those acting as ligands for peanut agglutinin, are largely exposed during the process. Finally, @entity214 -PAGE revealed major protein changes between resting and swollen conidia. We conclude that the ability of A. fumigatus conidia to aggregate correlates with an increase in adherence and biochemical reorganization of the cell wall.
