Prof. Hubertus Haas
MedUni Innsbruck

Host: Joseph Strauss

Iron is an essential nutrient for nearly all organisms. Mold fungi such as the most common airborne fungal pathogen of humans, Aspergillus fumigatus, employ low-affinity and reductive iron assimilation, the siderophore system, as well as vacuolar iron deposition to ensure supply with and to avoid toxicity of this essential metal.
The major transcriptional regulators of iron homeostasis are the GATA-factor SreA and the bZip-factor HapX. Iron acquisition as well as iron regulation plays a crucial role in microbial competition as well as virulence in plant and animal hosts. Moreover, recent studies indicated the high potential of siderophores in diagnosis of fungal infections. .