Systematic assessment of nutrient requirements for <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> growth on solid media

The research aimed to comprehensively understand how varying concentrations of nutrients affect <i>A. fumigatus</i> growth on solid media, providing insights into optimal conditions and crucial nutrient interactions. The methodology used in the present work enabled the prediction of growth rates across diverse conditions, suggesting that the regression model developed in this study can be enhanced in future investigations to establish a more resilient predictive frameworkPaper will be added at later date once published, please find the Abstract below:<i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> is a significant fungal pathogen responsible for severe infections, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Despite the critical need for effective treatment strategies, increasing antifungal resistance presents a major challenge. Understanding the nutritional requirements and growth dynamics of <i>A. fumigatus</i> is essential for developing optimized culture conditions that could aid in both research and clinical diagnostics. This study employed a full factorial Design of Experiments (DoE) approach to systematically investigate the growth of <i>A. fumigatus</i> on solid media, focusing on the effects of varying concentrations of glucose, ammonium tartrate, and yeast extract. Optical density measurements were used to calculate growth rates, revealing that compositions with high glucose and high yeast extract yielded the highest growth rates, while ammonium tartrate was found to be non-essential. A regression model developed from the data identified yeast extract as the most significant factor influencing growth, with glucose exhibiting a quadratic effect. The study demonstrated that optimized culture conditions could be predicted and validated, offering a reliable method for maximizing <i>A. fumigatus</i> growth in laboratory settings. These findings provide valuable insights into fungal metabolism and offer potential for improving antifungal susceptibility testing and infection modelling.Keywords: <i>Aspergillus</i> <i>fumigatus</i>, growth profile, DoE, optical density, solid media, yeast extract, ammonium tartrate, nutritional sources, growth rate.<br><br>Software JMP required to use journal file. You can download a free trial.Data is within a journal, where you can click on button/ links to open data tables with saved scripts of steps taken for data analysis.<br>The DoE Raw data MIB Tecan M200 pro is an excel file containing the raw data with separate sheets with calculation applied (Excel slope function only) prior to organising wells and matching to DoE patterns. JMP was used for all analysis<br>本研究旨在全面解析不同浓度梯度的营养物质如何影响烟曲霉（*Aspergillus fumigatus*）在固体培养基上的生长情况，为明确最优培养条件及关键营养交互作用提供理论依据。本研究采用的实验方法可实现对多样培养条件下真菌生长速率的精准预测，表明本研究构建的回归模型可在后续研究中进一步优化，以搭建更具鲁棒性的预测框架。本论文待正式刊发后将补充上传，现将论文摘要刊载如下： 烟曲霉是一种重要的致病真菌，可引发重症感染，尤其对免疫功能低下人群威胁极大。尽管临床上亟需有效的治疗策略，但日益加剧的抗真菌耐药性已成为临床治疗的重大瓶颈。明确烟曲霉的营养需求与生长动态，对于开发可同时助力基础研究与临床诊断的优化培养体系至关重要。本研究采用全因子实验设计（Design of Experiments，缩写DoE）方法，系统探究烟曲霉在固体培养基上的生长特性，重点考察葡萄糖、酒石酸铵与酵母提取物的不同浓度对其生长的影响。通过光密度测量值计算真菌生长速率，结果显示：高葡萄糖与高酵母提取物配比的培养基可获得最高生长速率，而酒石酸铵并非真菌生长的必需营养成分。基于实验数据构建的回归模型表明，酵母提取物是影响真菌生长的最显著因素，而葡萄糖对生长的影响呈现二次效应。本研究证实，可通过预测并验证优化的培养条件，为实验室环境下最大化烟曲霉的培养产量提供可靠方案。上述研究结果为真菌代谢机制研究提供了宝贵的理论依据，同时有望用于改进抗真菌药敏试验与感染模型构建。 关键词：烟曲霉（*Aspergillus fumigatus*）、生长特性、实验设计（DoE）、光密度、固体培养基、酵母提取物、酒石酸铵、营养源、生长速率。 使用该期刊文件需安装JMP软件，可免费下载试用版。数据集收录于该期刊文件中，您可通过点击按钮或链接打开数据表格，其中附带了数据分析全流程的保存脚本。本实验设计原始数据（MIB Tecan M200 pro）为Excel文件，内含原始实验数据，另有独立工作表应用了计算（仅使用Excel斜率函数），用于整理孔板信息并匹配实验设计模式。所有数据分析均通过JMP软件完成。