Disruption of multiple protein kinase genes results in reduced colony growth and conidiation of A. fumigatus.

A) Quantitation of colony diameters for the wild type parent strain (CEA10) and disruption mutants displaying minimal, moderate or severe growth restriction on minimal media. 10,000 conidia from each strain were point-inoculated onto minimal media and cultured for 96 hrs at 37°C. Colony diameters form triplicate cultures for each strain were measured (mm) and averaged. Statistical comparisons were made by ANOVA and all comparisons generated a p ≤ 0.0371. Disruption mutants not shown generated colony diameters that were similar to CEA10. B) Quantitation of conidiation for the parent strain (CEA10) and multiple protein kinase gene disruption mutants. Conidia (2 x 104) from each strain were cultured as in (A). Colony area was calculated and conidia were harvested in 10 ml of sterile water before filtration and quantitation using a hemocytometer. Each strain was assayed in triplicate and data were averaged. Statistical comparisons were made by one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons post hoc and all comparisons generated a p ≤ 0.0036. Disruption mutants not included here for colony diameter or conidiation analyses were not significantly different from the parental strain (CEA10). (TIF)