ZipV is required for oxidative stress resistance and pathogenicity in Aspergillus fumigatus

Deletion of zipV increased oxidative stress sensitivity and reduced in vivo virulence in a Galleria mellonella model, while complementation of the gene deletion restored the wild-type phenotype. Transcriptomic data from growing cultures and reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR performed on samples taken from conidia-producing cultures suggested that ZipV regulates the development of certain conidial traits.

In the delta-zipV mutant, the transcription of catA encoding conidial catalase, was impaired. This explains the oxidative stress sensitivity of this strain and may contribute to its reduced virulence. The increased transcriptional activity of the alternative oxidase gene aoxA observed in the absence of ZipV suggests that cells attempt to alleviate oxidative stress sensitivity by upregulating this antioxidative gene.