The parasitic cell wall of Coccidioides immitis

Coccidioides immitis is a human respiratory pathogen characterized by a parasitic cycle that is unique among fungi that cause systemic mycoses. Biochemical, molecular and immunological studies of the cell wall of C. immitis have focused on three distinct events of parasitic cell differentiation: isotropic growth, segmentation and endosporulation. Current investigations of each developmental phase in vitro include the identification, expression analysis, and disruption of synthase and hydrolase genes that are suspected to have key roles in morphogenesis. Temporal expression of families of beta-glucosidase and chitinase genes are of particular interest because their products may participate in wall modification during both isotropic growth and endosporulation and, thereby, represent potential molecular targets for novel antifungal drugs. Furthermore, our immunological studies of these and other isolated parasitic cell-wall components have resulted in the identification of antigens with demonstrated impact on host response to coccidioidal infection. C. immitis has proved to be an excellent model for fungal cell-wall research.