BIO084 Identification in silico of gpi (glycosylphosphatidylinositol)-proteins in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and Paracoccidioides lutzii

Abstract

Species of the genus Paracoccidioides are thermal dimorphic fungi and the etiological agents of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), the most prevalent systemic mycosis in Latin America. Strains of P. lutzii are more resistant to antifungal treatments and usually found in the central-western Brazil, while strains of P. brasiliensis are frequent in the southeast and northern regions. In fungi, GPI-proteins (glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins) are involved in cell wall integrity, as well as in pathogenic processes such as adhesion, degradation of host tissue and immune response interplay. The GPI-proteins frequently display a common structural organization such as an N-terminal signal peptide for translocation across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum and a C-terminal consensus sequence for GPI attachment. These features allow their identification using in silico approaches based on genome sequence.