Polyclonal Aspergillus fumigatus infection in captive penguins
Open accessAbstract
Aspergillus fumigatus is a known opportunistic pathogen of penguins. Most reports of penguin aspergillosis have focused on clinical, histopathological and microbiological findings. The molecular characterization of A. fumigatus isolates involved in invasive infections in penguins has yet to be addressed. The aim of this work was to study the possible coexistence of different A. fumigatus genotypes in five clinical cases of invasive aspergillosis in captive penguins. Differences in other relevant characteristics of the isolates, including mating type and invasiveness, were also considered. Alkaline protease and elastase production by the A. fumigatus isolates was evaluated by plate assays. Random amplified polymorphic DNA, and microsatellite analysis techniques were used for molecular typing, and mating type (MAT1-1 or MAT1-2) was determined by multiplex PCR. Although all isolates showed protease activity, differences in elastase activity were observed. The typing techniques indicated different genotypes in all the penguins, although one genotype was predominant in some cases. Fungal strains of different mating type were found in two different penguins, confirming infection polyclonality. In conclusion, captive penguins are susceptible to infection by multiple strains of A. fumigatus that differ not only in their genotype, but also in mating type and invasiveness. This finding has important consequences for the diagnosis and treatment of avian aspergillosis.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Aspergillus spores are hydrophobic and approximately 2.5 μm in diameter, allowing them to pass through the trachea to reach the air sacs and lungs and cause aspergillosis in immunocompromised humans and animals.
“Their spores are hydrophobic and extremely small, with a diameter of approximately 2.5 µm. Therefore, they easily pass through the trachea to reach the air sacs and lungs, which causes aspergillosis, a respiratory infection in immunocompromised humans and animals [4,20].”
From Nationwide Survey about the Occurrence of Aspergillosis in Captive Penguins in Zoos and Aquariums in Japan (2023) · cites this paper as [20]
The Introduction (p. 2) describes aspergillosis as a fungal infection in birds, and §2.1 (Animals) reports A. fumigatus infection and lesions in the lungs and air sacs of penguins. Our copy does not state that spores are hydrophobic or approximately 2.5 µm across, that they pass through the trachea, or that this mechanism causes disease in immunocompromised humans and animals. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAspergillosis is considered an opportunistic infectious disease.
“Aspergillosis is considered an opportunistic infectious disease [4,20].”
From Nationwide Survey about the Occurrence of Aspergillosis in Captive Penguins in Zoos and Aquariums in Japan (2023) · cites this paper as [20]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Evidence for Sexuality in the Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus
Paoletti, M., Rydholm, C., Schwier, E. U., Anderson, M. J., Szakacs, G., Lutzoni, F., Debeaupuis, J.-P., Latgé, J.-P., Denning, D. W., & Dyer, P. S. (2005) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2005.05.045 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Thorel, M., Mateos-Hernandez, L., Mulot, B., Azzouni, M. N., Hodžić, A., Gaillot, H., Ruel, Y., Desoubeaux, G., Delaye, J.-B., Obregon, D., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.897223 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Itoh, M., Matsumoto, N., Hagino, K., Sawayama, N., Kuwayama, M., Yamada, K., & Toyotome, T. (2023) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani13121913 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Alvarez-Perez, S., Mateos, A., Dominguez, L., Martinez-Nevado, E., Blanco, J. L., & Garcia, M. E.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- ORCID
- Mateos, Ana
- Venue
- Veterinary Microbiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-08
- Volume
- 144
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 444-449
- ISSN
- 0378-1135 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2073832862
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Veterinary Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- BURJC Digital (King Juan Carlos University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Hispana (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Consejería de Salud y Familias, Junta de Andalucía (AP 2005-1034)
- Ministério da Educação e Ciência
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Fungal Infections and Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
- Keywords
- Aspergillus fumigatus, invasive aspergillosis, penguins, captive birds, polyclonal infection, fungal genotypes, mating type, MAT1-1, MAT1-2, alkaline protease, elastase production, avian aspergillosis, molecular typing, microsatellite analysis, RAPD typing
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animals, Zoo, Aspergillosis, Aspergillus fumigatus, DNA, Fungal, Female, Male, Genome, Fungal, Microsatellite Repeats, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique, Insomnia, Fatal Familial, Spheniscidae
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
