IDENTIFICATION OF ESSENTIAL GENES OF ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS AND METHODS OF USE

摘要

The present invention provides Aspergillus fumigatus genes that are essential and are potential targets for drug screening. The identification of essential genes and those genes critical to the development of virulent infections, provides a basis for the development of screens for new drugs against Aspergillus fumigatus. The nucleotide sequence of the target genes can be used for various drug discovery purposes, such as expression of the recombinant protein, hybridization assay and construction of nucleic acid arrays. The present invention further provides methods for the construction of genetic mutants in which a target gene is placed under conditional expression. The uses of proteins encoded by the essential genes, and genetically engineered cells comprising modified alleles of essential genes in various screening methods are also encompassed by the invention.