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Science 17 November 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5495, pp. 1368 - 1372
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5495.1368
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Reports

Intracellular Parasitism by Histoplasma capsulatum: Fungal Virulence and Calcium Dependence

Tricia Schurtz Sebghati, Jacquelyn T. Engle, William E. Goldman*

Histoplasma capsulatum is an effective intracellular parasite of macrophages and causes the most prevalent fungal respiratory disease in the United States. A "dimorphic" fungus, H. capsulatum exists as a saprophytic mold in soil and converts to the parasitic yeast form after inhalation. Only the yeasts secrete a calcium-binding protein (CBP) and can grow in calcium-limiting conditions. To probe the relation between calcium limitation and intracellular parasitism, we designed a strategy to disrupt CBP1 in H. capsulatum using a telomeric linear plasmid and a two-step genetic selection. The resulting cbp1 yeasts no longer grew when deprived of calcium, and they were also unable to destroy macrophages in vitro or proliferate in a mouse model of pulmonary infection.

Department of Molecular Microbiology, Campus Box 8230, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: goldman{at}borcim.wustl.edu

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