# Identify virulence factors that facilitate Fusarium keratitis

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST · 2021 · $377,687

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Fusarium molds are ubiquitous in the environment, where they are major causes of agricultural disease
worldwide. Clinically, Fusarium species are incidental and accidental causes of human disease. However,
Fusarium molds are the most common cause of fungal keratitis (and microbial keratitis in general) in
developing countries and the leading cause of blindness among fungal keratitis patients. In industrialized
countries, an outbreak of fusarium keratitis was reported in 2005 and 2006 in regions of the United States not
usually associated with fungal keratitis. The outbreak was also reported in Britain, France, Hong Kong, and
Singapore. This proposal will focus on fusarium keratitis using the complementary strengths in comparative
genomics in PI Ma’s lab, and a murine model of fusarium keratitis developed at our collaborator Dr. Pearlman’s
lab. Comparative genomics studies focused on plant pathogenic F. oxysporum isolates demonstrated for the
first time that horizontal transfer of supernumerary (SP) chromosomes conveys plant host-specific
pathogenicity. A recent study of a F. oxysporum clinical isolate revealed four unique SP chromosomes and
confirmed that even for opportunistic infections, SP chromosomes may mediate pathogen adaptation to human
body conditions, such as higher temperatures and alkaline pH and iron-poor environments. Given these
findings, we hypothesize that certain adaptive genetic traits are important for the establishment of Fusarium
keratitis and in the compartmentalized F. oxysporum genome, these genetic traits are likely to present in the
SP chromosomes. Capitalizes on our understanding of SP chromosomes that contribute directly to fungal
pathogenicity, this R01 project will identify pathogenic SP chromosomes, and establish high throughput
screening pipeline to identify virulence factors using transcriptomics, forward/reverse genetics and
experimental evolution approaches. The achieved aims will enhance our understanding molecular mechanisms
underlying fusarium keratitis, which can be used to develop novel antifungal therapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10164796
- **Project number:** 5R01EY030150-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
- **Principal Investigator:** Li-Jun Ma
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $377,687
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10164796

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10164796, Identify virulence factors that facilitate Fusarium keratitis (5R01EY030150-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10164796. Licensed CC0.

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