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Sialic acids in fungi

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Abstract

The increasing number of reports on the presence of sialic acids in fungi (N-acetyl, N-glycolyl-and 5,9-N,O-diacetyl neuraminic acids) based on direct and indirect evidence warrants the present review. Formerly suggested as sialidase-sensitive sources of anionic groups at the cell surface of fungal species grown in chemically defined media (e.g., Fonsecaea pedrosoi), sialic acids have also been found in Sporothrix schenckii, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Cryptococcus neoformans and recently, in Candida albicans. Methods used involved adequate hydrolysis and extraction procedures, HTPLC, gas-chromatography, colorimetry, mass spectroscopy, sialidase-sensitive lectin and influenza virus binding. Apart from protecting fungal cells against phagocytosis (S. schenckii, C. neoformans) and playing a cellular structural role (F. pedrosoi), other biological functions of sialic acids are still being investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Celuta S. Alviano

  2. Disciplina de Biologia Celular, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Luiz R. Travassos

  3. Biochemisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universitä, Olshausenstr. 40, D-24098, Kiel, Germany

    Roland Schauer

Authors
  1. Celuta S. Alviano
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  2. Luiz R. Travassos
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  3. Roland Schauer
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Correspondence to Roland Schauer.

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Alviano, C.S., Travassos, L.R. & Schauer, R. Sialic acids in fungi. Glycoconj J 16, 545–554 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007078106280

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