Evolution of fungal virulence and host responses comparing Candida, Lichtheimia and Aspergillus spp. (B01)

• Subject Area: Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology
• Term: since 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 210879364

Project B1 investigates how the growth of the pathogen in the host depends on metabolic adaptation and virulence factors that enable immune evasion by counteracting the immune response. These aspects of infection processes are addressed by mathematical modeling, evolutionary analyses and metabolic modeling of lipids, leukotrienes and (secondary) metabolites in the context of mounting counter-defenses by A. fumigatus, L. corymbifera and C. albicans. Evolutionary game theory and dynamic optimization are applied to elucidate the development of invasive aspergillosis in the presence of the innate immune response.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 124: Pathogenic Fungi and their Human Host: Networks of Interaction - FungiNet
• Applicant Institution: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Thomas Dandekar; Professor Dr. Stefan Schuster