Applied Mycology

Members

• Ulrike Binder M.Sc., Ph.D.
• Doris Bratschun technician
• Andrea Eigentler M.Sc., Ph.D. student
• Nikoletta Hegedus M.Sc., Ph.D. student
• Florentine Marx M.Sc., Ph.D., Associate Prof.

Projects

Extracellular proteins in filamentous fungi

(supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF, Project P19970-B11), Austrian National Bank (OENB-9861), the D. Swarowski-Förderungsfonds (FB2/06) and the Tyrolean Science Foundation (UNI-0407/504).

Filamentous fungi secrete a wide array of different proteins into the external medium where they accomplish the most diverse functions, e.g. assimilation of complex nutrients, communication between other fungal cells, interaction between pathogenic fungi and their host; apart from some secreted enzymes which have been developed for a variety of commercial uses (mainly for the fermentation industry) only few extracellular proteins are well characterized in respect to their function as pathogenic factors or as cell signalling factors. Our main scientific interest is to identify, isolate and further characterize novel extracellular proteins of Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus fumigatus on their molecular and functional level. The knowledge on proteins secreted by filamtentous fungi as a response to their environment is an important prerequisite for the development of new fungal products beneficial to humans as well as for the identification of potential antigenic proteins relevant in diagnosis of fungal diseases.

Methods

• Standard methods in molecular biology, e.g. molecular cloning techniques; RT-PCR; site-directed mutagenesis; expression of homologous and heterologous recombinant proteins in filamentous fungi and mammalian cells, in insect cells by the Baculovirus-expression system.
• Biochemical methods: purification of recombinant proteins, chromatography, metabolic labeling.
• Immunological methods: immunoprecipitation, ELISA, Western blot technique, fluorescence staining.

Selected Publications

1. Marx F., Haas H., Reindl M., Stoeffler G., Lottspeich F. and Redl B. (1995) Cloning, structural organization and regulation of expression of the Penicillium chrysogenum paf gene encoding an abundantly secreted protein with antifungal activity. Gene 167,167-171.
2. Kaiserer L., Oberparleiter C., Weiler-Goerz R., Burgstaller W., Leiter E., Marx F. (2003) Characterization of the Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein PAF. Arch. Microbiol. 180: 204-210.
3. Oberparleiter C., Kaiserer L., Haas H., Ladurner P., Andratsch M., Marx F. (2003) Active internalization of the Penicillium chryosgenum antifungal protein PAF in sensitive aspergilli. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 47: 3598-3601.
4. Marx F. (2004) Small, basic antifungal proteins secreted from filamentous asocmycetes: a comparative study regarding expression, structure, function and potential application. Review. App. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 65: 133-142.
5. Leiter E., Marx F., Pusztahelyi T., Haas H., Pocsi I. (2004) Penicillium chrysogenum glucose oxidase - a study on its antifungal effects, J. Appl. Microbiol. 97: 1201-1209.
6. Marx F., Salvenmoser W., Kaiserer L., Grässle S., Weiler-Görz R., Zadra I., Oberparleiter C. (2005) Proper folding of the antifungal protein PAF is required for optimal protein activity. Res. Microbiol. 156: 35-46.
7. Theis T., Marx F., Salvenmoser W., Stahl U., Meyer W. (2005) New insights into the target site and mode of action of the antifungal protein (AFP) of Aspergillus giganteus. Res. Microbiol. 156: 47-56.
8. Galgoczy, L., Papp, T., Leiter, E., Marx, F., Pocsi, I., Vagvolgyi, C. (2005) Sensitivity of different zygomycetes to the Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein (PAF). J. Basic Microbiol. 45: 136-141.
9. Sappanos, H., Szigeti, G.P., Pal, B., Rusznak, Z., Szucs, G., Rajnavolgyi, E., Balla, J., Balla, G., Nagy, E., Leiter, E., Pocsi, I., Marx, F., Csernoch, L. (2005) The Penicillium chrysogenum-derived antifungal peptide shows no toxic effects on mammalian cells in the intended therapeutic concentration. Naunyn Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 371: 122-132.
10. Leiter, E., Szappanos, H., Oberparleiter, C., Kaiserer, L., Csernoch, L., Pusztahelyi, T., Emri, T., Pocsi, I., Salvenmoser, W., Marx, F. (2005) Antifungal protein PAF severely affects the integrity of the plasma membrane of Aspergillus nidulans and induces an apoptosis-like phenotype. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49: 2445-2453.
11. Hagen, S., Marx, F., Ram, A.R., and Meyer, V. (2007). The antifungal protein AFP from Aspergillus giganteus inhibits chitin synthesis in sensitive fungi. Appl. Environm. Microbiol. 73, 2128-2134.
12. Marx, F., Binder, U., Leiter, E., and Pocsi, I. (2008) The Penicillium chrysogenum antifungal protein PAF, a promising tool for fungal cell biology studies and the development of new antifungal therapies. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 65, 445-454.
13. Batta, G., Barna, T., Gaspari, Z., Sandor, S., Köver, K., Binder, U., Sarg, B., Kaiserer, L., Chhillar, A., Eigentler, A., Leiter, E., Hegedüs, N., Pocsi, I., Lindner, H., and Marx, F. (2009) Functional aspects of the solution structure and dynamics of PAF - a highly stable antifungal protein from Penicillium chrysogenum. FEBS J. 276(10):2875-2890
14. Binder, U., Oberparleiter, C., Meyer, V., and Marx, F. (2009) The antifungal protein PAF interferes with PKC/MPK and cAMP/PKA signalling of Aspergillus nidulans, Mol. Microbiol., epub ahead doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06936.x