Unveiling the Morphostructural Plasticity of Zoonotic Sporotrichosis Fungal Strains: Possible Implications for <i>Sporothrix brasiliensis</i> Virulence and Pathogenicity
Dario Corrêa-Junior | Iara Bastos de Andrade | Vinicius Alves | Igor Avellar-Moura | Vanessa Brito de Souza Rabello | Alessandro Fernandes Valdez | Leonardo Nimrichter | Rosely Maria Zancopé-Oliveira | Glauber Ribeiro de Sousa Araújo | Rodrigo Almeida-Paes | Susana Frases
Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by <i>Sporothrix</i> species, with <i>Sporothrix brasiliensis</i> as a prevalent pathogen in Latin America. Despite its clinical importance, the virulence factors of <i>S. brasiliensis</i> and their impact on the pathogenesis of sporotrichosis are still poorly understood. This study evaluated the morphostructural plasticity of <i>S. brasiliensis</i>, a fungus that causes sporotrichosis. Three cell surface characteristics, namely cell surface hydrophobicity, Zeta potential, and conductance, were assessed. Biofilm formation was also analyzed, with measurements taken for biomass, extracellular matrix, and metabolic activity. In addition, other potential and poorly studied characteristics correlated with virulence such as lipid bodies, chitin, and cell size were evaluated. The results revealed that the major phenotsypic features associated with fungal virulence in the studied <i>S. brasiliensis</i> strains were chitin, lipid bodies, and conductance. The dendrogram clustered the strains based on their overall similarity in the production of these factors. Correlation analyses showed that hydrophobicity was strongly linked to the production of biomass and extracellular matrix, while there was a weaker association between Zeta potential and size, and lipid bodies and chitin. This study provides valuable insights into the virulence factors of <i>S. brasiliensis</i> and their potential role in the pathogenesis of sporotrichosis.
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