ATG4 — Aspergillus fumigatus

Summary

AFU3G05340, designated AfATG4, encodes a cysteine protease of the peptidase C54 family with Atg8-specific protease activity and thiol endopeptidase activity. In Aspergillus fumigatus, this gene is associated with autophagy, mitophagy, aggrephagy, protein processing, transport, and secretion. It is linked to asexual sporulation, cell cycle progression, and filamentous growth. Localisation evidence connects the product to the phagophore assembly site, cytoplasm, cytosol, nucleus, and mitochondria. Phenotypic associations include absent or delayed autophagy, absent mitophagy and nucleophagy, decreased colony size, increased ionic stress resistance, and abnormal cytoskeleton and nuclear morphology. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to loss of pathogenicity and reduced virulence.