Joseph Heitman

The paper shows that meiosis in Mucor circinelloides produces genetically uniform progeny from a single meiotic product, unlike conventional meiosis.

The paper shows brain infection induces RNAi epimutations in Mucor circinelloides that enhance blood-brain barrier invasion.

This study shows that tunicamycin from Streptomyces induces unisexual reproduction in Cryptococcus species through meiotic processes and developmental reprogramming.

The paper identifies the protein phosphatase 2C domain of adenylyl cyclase in Cryptococcus neoformans as essential for its pathobiological functions, affecting virulence and immune response.

This study identifies a mycovirus, CnTV1, that persists in RNAi-deficient Cryptococcus neoformans isolates due to a NUMT insertion disrupting Ago1, and shows RNAi is critical for viral control.

The paper identifies essential transcriptional regulators in Cryptococcus neoformans, highlighting Ezt1 as a key regulator of growth, drug response, and virulence.

This study identifies three hybrid groups in Cryptococcus neoformans with genomic features indicative of parasexual reproduction, including LOH, aneuploidy, and haploid recombinants.

The paper discovers a new family of giant viruses, Mycodnaviridae, that infect zoosporic fungi and persistently infect them, expanding the known host range of Nucleocytoviricota.

This study identifies distinct roles of STRIPAK subunits in Cryptococcus neoformans, showing that core subunits maintain genome stability and virulence while Mob3 promotes hypervirulence through enhanced host adaptation.

This study identifies HXK1 and HXK2 as genetic suppressors of Tps1 loss-of-function in C. deneoformans, revealing their role in regulating glycolytic flux to restore thermotolerance.

This study shows that Malassezia furfur hyphal growth depends on mating-type loci and is promoted by host skin lipids, linking parasexual reproduction to pathogenic traits.

This paper shows that aneuploidy in A. fumigatus enhances stress adaptation and metabolic flexibility, particularly in response to FK506 and voriconazole.

This study identifies transient heterochromatin islands in Cryptococcus neoformans that contribute to fluconazole heteroresistance, distinct from aneuploidy.

This study identifies meiosis-specific genes critical for ploidy reduction in Cryptococcus neoformans titan cells, showing their role in generating stable diploid daughter cells.

The paper develops a toolkit of fluorescent organelle markers in Cryptococcus neoformans to study subcellular localization and remodeling under various conditions and during sexual development.

This study uses FTIR spectroscopy and WGS to show increased strain diversity of Malassezia pachydermatis in dogs with atopic dermatitis, with specific phylogroups enriched in affected animals.

This study investigates the role of HD genes in sexual reproduction and demonstrates a tetrapolar-to-bipolar transition in Cryptococcus amylolentus using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.

This study identifies Sxi1's inhibitory role in unisexual cell fusion and distinct transcriptional regulation from Sxi2a in Cryptococcus deneoformans.

This study shows that fungi develop transient antifungal resistance through RNAi or heterochromatin-driven epimutations, without DNA mutations.

The paper identifies butyrolactol A as a compound that enhances caspofungin efficacy against resistant fungi by inhibiting phospholipid flippase, thereby improving antifungal treatment.

This paper analyzes whole-genome sequences of Cryptococcus deneoformans to find evidence of both a- and - sexual reproduction and recombination in natural populations.

This study describes six new Cryptococcus species using genomic and phenotypic data, revealing ecological associations, chromosomal variation, and metabolic differences across the genus.

This study shows that mutating the RIC8 gene in Cryptococcus neoformans enables unisexual reproduction involving meiotic recombination, suggesting it may be more common in nature than previously thought.

The paper traces the evolution of mating-type loci in Cryptococcus and related species, revealing genomic dynamics like locus expansions, GC-content changes, and linkage transitions.

This study uses Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to rapidly distinguish Malassezia species and resolve strain-level typing in M. pachydermatis, matching whole-genome sequencing results.

This study identifies a thermoregulatory network in Cryptococcus neoformans that governs virulence through calcineurin signaling, using genetic, proteomic, and transcriptomic approaches.

This study shows RNAi epimutations conferring antifungal drug resistance are transgenerationally inherited in Mucor circinelloides, independent of DNA sequence and other epigenetic factors.

This study shows that STRIPAK complex defects in Cryptococcus neoformans lead to pseudosexual reproduction, affecting genome stability and inheritance.

This study identifies two mechanisms that bypass calcineurin function in Cryptococcus deneoformans during high-temperature growth, revealing its role in cytokinesis under thermal stress.

This study identifies essential genes in the mating-type locus of Cryptococcus neoformans, showing that four genes are essential for viability while MYO2 is critical for pathogenicity despite not being essential.