| Abstract: | ["Malassezia yeasts are lipid-dependent fungal species that are common members of the human\r\nand animal skin microbiota. The lipid-dependency is a crucial trait in the adaptation process to\r\ngrow on the skin but also plays a role in their pathogenic life style. Malassezia species can\r\ncause several skin infections like dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis but also bloodstream\r\ninfections. Understanding the lipid metabolism in Malassezia is essential to understand its life\r\nstyle as skin commensal and pathogen, however, many aspects about the lipid-synthesis\r\npathways remain inconclusive. We combined genome sequencing and in- silico lipidsynthesis\r\npathways reconstruction and show differences in the production of riboflavin in M.\r\nfurfur and in the biosynthesis of glycerolipids in the atypical variant of M. furfur and M.\r\nsympodialis. We predicted defects in the assimilation of palmitic acid in M. globosa, M.\r\nsympodialis, M. pachydermatis, and the atypical variant of M. furfur, but not in M. furfur. These\r\npredictions were validated via physiological characterization, confirming these in-silico\r\npredictions. Differences in the assimilation of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were found\r\namong the different species. These differences were also connected with the storage of neutral\r\nlipids in lipid droplets (LD), which could be related as a mechanism to obtain and exploit lipid\r\nsources during starvation conditions. Physiological evaluations in minimal medium showed\r\ndifferences in the rate of growth but also in the patterns of storage of neutral lipids in LD."] |
