racA — Aspergillus fumigatus

Summary

AFU3G06300 (racA) on Aspergillus fumigatus chromosome 3 encodes a putative Rho GTPase Rac, a member of the small GTPase family with GTPase activity, GDP and GTP binding, protein serine/threonine kinase activator activity, and signaling adaptor activity. The gene is associated with numerous biological processes including regulation of cell morphogenesis, bipolar cell growth, budding cell isotropic bud growth, cell growth mode switching from budding to filamentous, cortical cytoskeleton organization, septin ring organization, cell wall modification, regulation of beta-glucan anabolism, positive regulation of 1,3-beta-D-glucan biosynthetic process, regulation of endocytic recycling, exocytosis, vesicle-mediated transport, and intracellular protein transport. The product localizes to the hyphal tip polarisome, Spitzenkörper, exocytic vesicles, 1,3-beta-glucan synthase complex, Cdc42 GTPase complex, and cell projection. Related genes in other species link the family to virulence modulation, including hypervirulence and reduced pathogenicity.