Title |
REVIEW] Revisiting old friends: Developments in understanding Histoplasma capsulatum pathogenesis |
Author |
Jon P. Woods |
Address |
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53706, USA |
Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 54(3),265-276, 2016,
|
DOI |
10.1007/s12275-016-6044-5
|
Key Words |
dimorphism, fungus, virulence |
Abstract |
Histoplasma capsulatum is a dimorphic pathogenic fungus
and causative agent of histoplasmosis, which is a respiratory
and systemic infection that is particularly severe in immunocompromised
hosts and represents the fungal homolog of
tuberculosis. In highly endemic regions, the majority of individuals
have been infected and carry the organism in a persistent
latent form that is a danger for reactivation if host
defenses are suppressed. H. capsulatum has been a model
organism for intracellular pathogenesis and fungal morphogenesis
for decades. New genomic information and application
of approaches for molecular genetic manipulation are
shedding new light on virulence mechanisms. |