Special Issue "Fungal Extracellular Vesicles: Past, Present and Future"

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Genomics, Genetics and Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 November 2023 | Viewed by 1745

Special Issue Editors

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
Interests: mycology; extracellular vesicles; host–patogen interaction; immunology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
Interests: microbial pathogenesis; Histoplasma; Candida; Cryptococcus; Paracoccidioides; extracellular fungal vesicles; novel therapeutics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are structures released by cells from a remarkably broad range of organisms from all Kingdoms of life, as a way of regulating the release of diverse compounds to the extracellular environment. EVs vary in size, content and can come in different colours, as these dynamic structures are able to carry not only structural lipids and proteins, but also signalling molecules from different classes, nucleic acids and pigments. After being described in bacteria, protozoa and animals, the production and release of EVs was described in fungi in 2007, disproving the scepticism related to the challenges involved with the crossing of a complex polysaccharide layer, the fungal cell wall, by these fascinating lipid bilayered “virulence bags”, a phenomenon that is still poorly understood. After 15 years of research on fungal EVs, it is known that they are involved in cellular communication within and between fungal populations, but also with the host, to induce or suppress the immune response. Furthermore, due to the diversity of their cargo, fungal EVs have been described as potential platforms for biotechnological applications. Despite the growing data on fungal EVs, many questions regarding these structures remain unanswered and this Special Issue will bring to light the past, present and future related to this rapidly expanding field.

Dr. Daniel Zamith Miranda
Prof. Dr. Joshua D. Nosanchuk
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fungal extracellular vesicles
  • cargo
  • immunomodulatory
  • host
  • communication

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Metabolomic Analysis of Extracellular Vesicles from the Cereal Fungal Pathogen Fusarium graminearum
J. Fungi 2023, 9(5), 507; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9050507 - 24 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1449
Abstract
Fusarium graminearum (F. graminearum) is a filamentous fungus that infects cereals such as corn, wheat, and barley, with serious impact on yield as well as quality when the grain is contaminated with mycotoxins. Despite the huge impact of F. graminearum on [...] Read more.
Fusarium graminearum (F. graminearum) is a filamentous fungus that infects cereals such as corn, wheat, and barley, with serious impact on yield as well as quality when the grain is contaminated with mycotoxins. Despite the huge impact of F. graminearum on food security and mammalian health, the mechanisms used by F. graminearum to export virulence factors during infection are not fully understood and may involve non-classical secretory pathways. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bound compartments produced by cells of all kingdoms that transport several classes of macromolecules and are implicated in cell–cell communication. EVs produced by human fungal pathogens carry cargo that facilitate infection, leading us to ask whether plant fungal pathogens also deliver molecules that increase virulence via EVs. We examined the metabolome of the EVs produced by F. graminearum to determine whether they carry small molecules that could modulate plant–pathogen interactions. We discovered that EVs from F. graminearum were produced in liquid medium-containing inducers of trichothecene production, but in lower quantities compared to other media. Nanoparticle tracking analysis and cryo-electron microscopy revealed that the EVs were morphologically similar to EVs from other organisms; hence, the EVs were metabolically profiled using LC-ESI-MS/MS. This analysis revealed that EVs carry 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (BP-1) and metabolites that have been suggested by others to have a role in host–pathogen interactions. BP-1 reduced the growth of F. graminearum in an in vitro assay, suggesting that F. graminearum might use EVs to limit metabolite self-toxicity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fungal Extracellular Vesicles: Past, Present and Future)
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