Coccidioides immitis and posadasii; A review of their biology, genomics, pathogenesis, and host immunity

Figures & data

Figure 1. A phylogenetic tree of dimorphic fungi that are human pathogens. A few close relatives that are not dimorphic primary pathogens are shown for comparison (not highlighted in tan). The Orders are shown to the right of the boxed names. Organisms within each Order are boxed together. The phylogenetic data was obtained using the NCBI taxonomy tool and the tree was constructed using Phylip-3.695.

Figure 2. Mycelia containing arthroconidia and a mature spherule with endospores. (a) Mature mycelia grown in vitro showing darkly stained arthroconidia alternating with a nucleate thin walled segments within mycelia (lacto-phenol cotton blue stain). (b) A spherule containing endospores in tissue (Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS)). The images were obtained from the CDC (http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp). This figure was previously published in the Journal of Fungi [70].

Figure 3. Numbers of genes upregulated in spherules of three different maturities. Venn diagram of C. immitis genes up-regulated more than 2-fold compared to mycelial gene expression. (a) The data for day 4 spherules are from [41] and (b) the data for Day 2 and day 8 spherules are from [42].

Table 1. Some enriched metabolic pathways among the 152 genes up-regulated in day 2, 4 and 8 spherules.

Name	Bkg count^a	Result count^b	Fold enrichment	Odds ratio	p- value (Bonferroni)
UDP-sugars interconversion	39	8	12.85	19.88	4.17E-05
L-galactose degradation	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
UDP-L-rhamnose biosynthesis	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
UDP-N-acetyl-α-D-fucosamine biosynthesis	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
lactose degradation II	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
L-sorbose degradation	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
dTDP-L-olivose biosynthesis	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
D-arabinose degradation III	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
D-galactose degradation IV	36	7	12.18	18.01	4.40E-04
GDP-6-deoxy-D-altro-heptose biosynthesis	42	7	10.44	14.88	1.33E-03
GDP-6-deoxy-D-manno-heptose biosynthesis	42	7	10.44	14.88	1.33E-03

Carbohydrate metabolic pathways found in the 152 genes up-regulated in day 2, 4 and 8 spherules [41,42]. a – all genes with that designation found in the genome; b – genes with that designation found in the 152 genes identified.

Table 2. Experimental Recombinant Vaccines.

Antigen	Form	Adjuvant	Activity	References
Ag2/PRA^a	Protein, DNA	Various	Moderately active	[74]
B-glucanosyltransferase	Protein	CpG-ODN^b	Moderately active	[75]
Calnexin	Protein	Glucan and Adjuplex	Modestly active	[76]
Aspartyl protease	Protein	CpG-ODN	Moderately active	[77]
CSA^c	Protein	CpG-ODN and MPLA^d	Modestly active	[78]
Ag2/PRA and CSA fusion protein	Protein	CpG-ODN and MPLA	Highly active	[78]
Phospholipase, α-mannosidase and aspartyl protease	Protein	CpG-ODN	Highly active	[77]

(a) Antigen 2, also known as proline rich antigen(PRA); (b) Cytosine triphosphate deoxynucleotide- guanine triphosphate deoxynucleotide immunostimulatory polymer, (c) Coccidioides specific antigen; (d) Monophosphoryl lipid A. This table is adapted from a previous publication in the Journal of Fungi [71].

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