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Keratinophilic fungi: Their role in nature and degradation of keratinic
substrates
Valeria Filipello Marchisio
Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Università di Torino, Torino,
Italy
Keratinophilic fungi are natural colonizers of keratinic substrates. Some
are keratinolytic and play an important ecological role in decomposing
a-keratins, the insoluble fibrous proteins. Because of the tight packing
of their polypeptide chains in a-helix structures and their linkage by
disulphide bridges, they are poorly biodegradable. Two main forms of attack
have been identified: surface erosion and radial penetration. In surface
erosion, the sequence of degradation proceeds as the level of keratinisation
(the cystine crosslinks) of the components of the keratinic matrix increases.
In radial penetration, on the other hand, specialized hyphae can penetrate
like a drill throught the matrix, irrespective of the degree of keratinisation.
This may illustrate how the growth can change direction and how secretory
activity may concentrate at the tips of the penetrating hyphae.
PDF file
In: Kushwaha RKS, Guarro J (Eds.). Biology
of Dermatophytes and other Keratinophilic Fungi.
Revista Iberoamericana de Micología, Bilbao, 2000.
2000-2024@ Revista Iberoamericana de Micología. All rights reserved.
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