Abstract
			
			A number of pathogenic species of basidiomycete fungi are
either life-threatening pathogens of humans or major economic
pests for crop production. Sensing the host is a key
aspect of pathogen proliferation during disease, and signal
transduction pathways are critically important for detecting
environmental conditions and facilitating adaptation. This
review focuses on the contributions of the cAMP/protein
kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans,
a species that causes meningitis in humans, and Ustilago
maydis, a model phytopathogen that causes a smut disease on
maize. Environmental sensing by the cAMP/PKA pathway
regulates the production of key virulence traits in C. neoformans
including the polysaccharide capsule and melanin.
For U. maydis, the pathway controls the dimorphic transition
from budding growth to the filamentous cell type required
for proliferation in plant tissue. We discuss recent advances
in identifying new components of the cAMP/PKA pathway
in these pathogens and highlight an emerging theme that
pathway signaling influences iron acquisition.			
						
						
					 
		
		
		 
		
			Citations
			Citations to this article as recorded by  

- Cryptococcal nutrient acquisition and pathogenesis: dining on the host
 John R. Perfect, James W. Kronstad, Joseph Heitman
 Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Spray‐induced gene silencing of three G‐protein signaling genes from the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis inhibits spore germination and hyphopodium formation
 Xiaoning Fan, Xiaoqin Zhou, Junliang He, Hongyun Xie, Nianwu Tang, Ming Tang, Xianan Xie
 New Phytologist.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Signaling Pathways Regulating Dimorphism in Medically Relevant Fungal Species
 Uriel Ramírez-Sotelo, Manuela Gómez-Gaviria, Héctor M. Mora-Montes
 Pathogens.2025; 14(4): 350.     CrossRef
- 
            Signaling pathways governing the pathobiological features and antifungal drug resistance of
            Candida auris
          
 Hyunjin Cha, Doyeon Won, Yong-Sun Bahn, Marcio Rodrigues
 mBio.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Purine nucleosides replace cAMP in allosteric regulation of PKA in trypanosomatid pathogens
 Veronica Teresa Ober, George Boniface Githure, Yuri Volpato Santos, Sidney Becker, Gabriel Moya Munoz, Jérôme Basquin, Frank Schwede, Esben Lorentzen, Michael Boshart
 eLife.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Disruption of the pkac2 gene in Pleurotus ostreatus alters cell wall structures and enables mycelial dispersion in liquid culture
 Yuitsu Otsuka, Moriyuki Kawauchi, Kai Yoshizawa, Saori Endo, Kim Schiphof, Kenya Tsuji, Akira Yoshimi, Chihiro Tanaka, Shigekazu Yano, Vladimir Elisashvili, Takehito Nakazawa, Toshikazu Irie, Yoichi Honda
 FEMS Microbiology Letters.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Purine nucleosides replace cAMP in allosteric regulation of PKA in trypanosomatid pathogens
 Veronica Teresa Ober, George Boniface Githure, Yuri Volpato Santos, Sidney Becker, Gabriel Moya Munoz, Jérôme Basquin, Frank Schwede, Esben Lorentzen, Michael Boshart
 eLife.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
- How temperature modulates the expression of pathogenesis-related molecules of the cross-kingdom pathogen Lasiodiplodia hormozganensis
 Carina Félix, Rodrigo Meneses, Micael F.M. Gonçalves, Ana S. Duarte, Jesus V. Jorrín-Novo, Yves van de Peer, Dieter Deforce, Filip Van Nieuwerburgh, Artur Alves, Ana C. Esteves
 Science of The Total Environment.2024; 927: 171917.     CrossRef
- 
            Major facility superfamily sugar transporter protein
            SsMFSST1
            regulates
            Sporisorium scitamineum
            mating, pathogenicity, and sugar transport/absorption
          
 Yi Zhang, Yongding He, Meixin Yan, Shilong Zhang, Sisi Zhou, Wankuan Shen, Michael Klutstein
 Microbiology Spectrum.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
- The Ras small GTPase RSR1 regulates cellulase production in Trichoderma reesei
 Ni Li, Zhouyuan Qiu, Wanchuan Cai, Yaling Shen, Dongzhi Wei, Yumeng Chen, Wei Wang
 Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts.2023;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Small GTPases RasA and RasB regulate development, patulin production, and virulence of Penicillium expansum
 Yuanyuan Zong, Xuemei Zhang, Di Gong, Feng Zhang, Lirong Yu, Yang Bi, Edward Sionov, Dov Prusky
 Postharvest Biology and Technology.2023; 197: 112192.     CrossRef
- A Novel FYVE Domain-Containing Protein Kinase, PsZFPK1, Plays a Critical Role in Vegetative Growth, Sporangium Formation, Oospore Production, and Virulence in Phytophthora sojae
 Binglu Ru, Xinchang Hao, Wenhao Li, Qin Peng, Jianqiang Miao, Xili Liu
 Journal of Fungi.2023; 9(7): 709.     CrossRef
- Connecting Cryptococcal Meningitis and Gut Microbiome
 Yuanyuan Ma, Liang Yang, Mengna Jiang, Xinyuan Zhao, Peng Xue
 International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2023; 24(17): 13515.     CrossRef
- Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analyses Provide Insights into the Pathogenic Mechanism of the Rice False Smut Pathogen Ustilaginoidea virens
 Rongtao Fu, Jian Wang, Cheng Chen, Yao Liu, Liyu Zhao, Daihua Lu
 International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2023; 24(13): 10805.     CrossRef
- Squalene Monooxygenase Gene SsCI80130 Regulates Sporisorium scitamineum Mating/Filamentation and Pathogenicity
 Yichang Cai, Yi Zhang, Han Bao, Jiaoyun Chen, Jianwen Chen, Wankuan Shen
 Journal of Fungi.2022; 8(5): 470.     CrossRef
- Iron Deprivation Modulates the Exoproteome in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis
 Aparecido Ferreira de Souza, Laurine Lacerda Pigosso, Lana O’Hara Souza Silva, Italo Dany Cavalcante Galo, Juliano Domiraci Paccez, Kleber Santiago Freitas e Silva, Milton Adriano Pelli de Oliveira, Maristela Pereira, Célia Maria de Almeida Soares
 Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Secretion of the siderophore rhizoferrin is regulated by the cAMP-PKA pathway and is involved in the virulence of Mucor lusitanicus
 Viridiana Alejandre-Castañeda, J. Alberto Patiño-Medina, Marco I. Valle-Maldonado, Rosa E. Nuñez-Anita, Gustavo Santoyo, Karla V. Castro-Cerritos, Rafael Ortiz-Alvarado, Alma R. Corrales-Escobosa, Martha I. Ramírez-Díaz, J. Felix Gutiérrez-Corona, Adolfo
 Scientific Reports.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
- 
            Adenylyl Cyclase and Protein Kinase A Play Redundant and Distinct Roles in Growth, Differentiation, Antifungal Drug Resistance, and Pathogenicity of
            Candida auris
          
 Ji-Seok Kim, Kyung-Tae Lee, Myung Ha Lee, Eunji Cheong, Yong-Sun Bahn, James W. Kronstad
 mBio.2021;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Signaling pathways involved in virulence and stress response of plant-pathogenic Fusarium species
 Łukasz Stępień, Justyna Lalak-Kańczugowska
 Fungal Biology Reviews.2021; 35: 27.     CrossRef
- Comparative Proteomic Analysis within the Developmental Stages of the Mushroom White Hypsizygus marmoreus
 Xiuqing Yang, Rongmei Lin, Kang Xu, Lizhong Guo, Hao Yu
 Journal of Fungi.2021; 7(12): 1064.     CrossRef
- Genome-Wide Analysis of Nutrient Signaling Pathways Conserved in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
 Xiaoqin Zhou, Jiangyong Li, Nianwu Tang, Hongyun Xie, Xiaoning Fan, Hui Chen, Ming Tang, Xianan Xie
 Microorganisms.2021; 9(8): 1557.     CrossRef
- Histidine Kinase Sln1 and cAMP/PKA Signaling Pathways Antagonistically Regulate Sporisorium scitamineum Mating and Virulence via Transcription Factor Prf1
 Enping Cai, Shuquan Sun, Yizhen Deng, Peishen Huang, Xian Sun, Yuting Wang, Changqing Chang, Zide Jiang
 Journal of Fungi.2021; 7(8): 610.     CrossRef
- Current status on the molecular biology of zearalenone: its biosynthesis and molecular detection of zearalenone producing Fusarium species
 Sahar Nahle, André El Khoury, Ali Atoui
 European Journal of Plant Pathology.2021; 159(2): 247.     CrossRef
- The heterotrimeric G‐protein beta subunit Gpb1 controls hyphal growth under low oxygen conditions through the protein kinase A pathway and is essential for virulence in the fungusMucor circinelloides
 Marco Iván Valle‐Maldonado, José Alberto Patiño‐Medina, Carlos Pérez‐Arques, Nancy Yadira Reyes‐Mares, Irvin Eduardo Jácome‐Galarza, Rafael Ortíz‐Alvarado, Sandeep Vellanki, Martha Isela Ramírez‐Díaz, Soo Chan Lee, Victoriano Garre, Víctor Meza‐Carmen
 Cellular Microbiology.2020;[Epub]     CrossRef
- 
            Defects in the Ferroxidase That Participates in the Reductive Iron Assimilation System Results in Hypervirulence in
            Botrytis Cinerea
          
 Esteban Vasquez-Montaño, Gustavo Hoppe, Andrea Vega, Consuelo Olivares-Yañez, Paulo Canessa, B. Gillian Turgeon
 mBio.2020;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Zinc Finger Proteins in the Human Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans
 Yuan-Hong Li, Tong-Bao Liu
 International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2020; 21(4): 1361.     CrossRef
- Life Cycle ofCryptococcus neoformans
 Youbao Zhao, Jianfeng Lin, Yumeng Fan, Xiaorong Lin
 Annual Review of Microbiology.2019; 73(1): 17.     CrossRef
- The cAMP/Protein Kinase A Pathway Regulates Virulence and Adaptation to Host Conditions in Cryptococcus neoformans
 Mélissa Caza, James W. Kronstad
 Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef
- 
            The AGC Kinase SsAgc1 Regulates
            Sporisorium scitamineum
            Mating/Filamentation and Pathogenicity
          
 Yixu Wang, Yi Zhen Deng, Guobing Cui, Chengwei Huang, Bin Zhang, Changqing Chang, Zide Jiang, Lian-Hui Zhang, Aaron P. Mitchell
 mSphere.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Induction of signal transduction pathways related to the pathogenicity of Cryptococcus neoformans in the host environment
 Yasuhiko Matsumoto, Saki Azami, Haruka Shiga, Tae Nagamachi, Hikari Moriyama, Yuki Yamashita, Asami Yoshikawa, Takashi Sugita
 Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics.2019; 13(4): 177.     CrossRef
- A multi-omics analysis of the grapevine pathogen Lasiodiplodia theobromae reveals that temperature affects the expression of virulence- and pathogenicity-related genes
 Carina Félix, Rodrigo Meneses, Micael F. M. Gonçalves, Laurentijn Tilleman, Ana S. Duarte, Jesus V. Jorrín-Novo, Yves Van de Peer, Dieter Deforce, Filip Van Nieuwerburgh, Ana C. Esteves, Artur Alves
 Scientific Reports.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef
- cAMP/PKA signalling pathway regulates redox homeostasis essential for Sporisorium scitamineum mating/filamentation and virulence
 Changqing Chang, Enping Cai, Yi Zhen Deng, Dan Mei, Shanxu Qiu, Baoshan Chen, Lian‐Hui Zhang, Zide Jiang
 Environmental Microbiology.2019; 21(3): 959.     CrossRef
- Cloning and disruption of the UeArginase in Ustilago esculenta: evidence for a role of arginine in its dimorphic transition
 Yafen Zhang, Min Wu, Qianwen Ge, Mengfei Yang, Wenqiang Xia, Haifeng Cui, Xiaoping Yu, Shangfa Zhang, Zihong Ye
 BMC Microbiology.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Microcystin-leucine arginine inhibits gonadotropin-releasing hormone synthesis in mice hypothalamus
 Jing Wang, Yabing Chen, Zhangpeng Chen, Zou Xiang, Jie Ding, Xiaodong Han
 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.2018; 163: 391.     CrossRef
- Functional genomics of lipid metabolism in the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides
 Samuel T Coradetti, Dominic Pinel, Gina M Geiselman, Masakazu Ito, Stephen J Mondo, Morgann C Reilly, Ya-Fang Cheng, Stefan Bauer, Igor V Grigoriev, John M Gladden, Blake A Simmons, Rachel B Brem, Adam P Arkin, Jeffrey M Skerker
 eLife.2018;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Signaling pathways governing iron homeostasis in budding yeast
 Telma S. Martins, Vítor Costa, Clara Pereira
 Molecular Microbiology.2018; 109(4): 422.     CrossRef
- The PKR regulatory subunit of protein kinase A (PKA) is involved in the regulation of growth, sexual and asexual development, and pathogenesis in Fusarium graminearum
 Chaoqun Li, Yonghui Zhang, Huan Wang, Lingfeng Chen, Ju Zhang, Manli Sun, Jin‐Rong Xu, Chenfang Wang
 Molecular Plant Pathology.2018; 19(4): 909.     CrossRef
- Biosynthetic mechanism and regulation of zearalenone in Fusarium graminearum
 Jung-Eun Kim, Hokyoung Son, Yin-Won Lee
 JSM Mycotoxins.2018; 68(1): 1.     CrossRef
- Introducing fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based biosensors for the analysis of cAMP-PKA signalling in the fungal pathogenCandida glabrata
 Liesbeth Demuyser, Wouter Van Genechten, Hideaki Mizuno, Sonia Colombo, Patrick Van Dijck
 Cellular Microbiology.2018; 20(10): e12863.     CrossRef
- Production of triterpenoids from Ganoderma lucidum : Elicitation strategy and signal transduction
 Li Gu, Yimei Zheng, Danhong Lian, Xin Zhong, Xin Liu
 Process Biochemistry.2018; 69: 22.     CrossRef
- A P4-ATPase subunit of the Cdc50 family plays a role in iron acquisition and virulence inCryptococcus neoformans
 Guanggan Hu, Mélissa Caza, Erik Bakkeren, Matthias Kretschmer, Gaurav Bairwa, Ethan Reiner, James Kronstad
 Cellular Microbiology.2017; 19(6): e12718.     CrossRef
- mRNA decay: an adaptation tool for the environmental fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans
 Amanda L. M. Bloom, Jay Leipheimer, John C. Panepinto
 WIREs RNA.2017;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Iron acquisition in fungal pathogens of humans
 Gaurav Bairwa, Won Hee Jung, James W. Kronstad
 Metallomics.2017; 9(3): 215.     CrossRef
- When green and red mycology meet: Impressions from an interdisciplinary forum on virulence mechanisms of phyto- and human-pathogenic fungi
 Yidong Yu, Bernhard Hube, Jörg Kämper, Vera Meyer, Sven Krappmann
 Virulence.2017; 8(7): 1435.     CrossRef
- The Cell Biology of the Trichosporon-Host Interaction
 Cláudio Duarte-Oliveira, Fernando Rodrigues, Samuel M. Gonçalves, Gustavo H. Goldman, Agostinho Carvalho, Cristina Cunha
 Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.2017;[Epub]     CrossRef
- Opposing PKA and Hog1 signals control the post‐transcriptional response to glucose availability in Cryptococcus neoformans
 Dithi Banerjee, Amanda L. M. Bloom, John C. Panepinto
 Molecular Microbiology.2016; 102(2): 306.     CrossRef
- Human fungal pathogens: Why should we learn?
 Jeong-Yoon Kim
 Journal of Microbiology.2016; 54(3): 145.     CrossRef
- Roles of Rack1 Proteins in Fungal Pathogenesis
 Xue Zhang, Rashmi Jain, Guotian Li
 BioMed Research International.2016; 2016: 1.     CrossRef