Fungi 'may have sex while infecting humans'
Friday, 31 Oct 2008 07:54
Fungi 'may have sex while infecting humans'
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A fungus which causes chronic diarrhea may undergo a form of sexual reproduction while it infects humans, a report claims.
Researchers claim to have proved the microsporidia fungus causes illness in AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients and travelers and evolved from sexual fungi.
The authors claim their findings could help develop effective treatments against common global pathogens and may help explain their most dangerous attacks.
"Microsporidian infections are hard to treat because until now we haven't known a lot about this common pathogen," said Soo Chan Lee, from the Duke University Medical Centre.
"Up to 50 per cent of AIDS patients have microsporidial infections and develop chronic diarrhea. These infections are also detected in patients with traveler's diarrhea, and also in children, organ transplant recipients and the elderly."
There are some 1200 different species of microsporidia and more than a dozen infect humans.
Researchers found that microsporidia are closely related to the zygomycete fungus and have the same sex-locus genes in their DNA.
They claim their findings suggest that microsporidia may have a genetically controlled sexual cycle, and may be undergoing sexual reproduction while they infect the host.
"These studies resolve the enigma of the evolutionary origins and proper placement of this highly successful group of pathogens, and provide better approaches to their experimental study," added senior author Joseph Heitman.