Effect of zinc supplementation on gene expression of Rhizopus arrhizus NCCPF 710004

Rhizopus arrhizus is the predominant causative agent of mucormycosis worldwide. During COVID-19 pandemic, an upsurge of this disease was noted in many countries including India. Many clinical/epidemiological studies reported that the excessive intake of nutritional supplements, especially that of zinc, owing to self-medication and over-prescription, was one of the risk factors for the emergence of Covid-19 associated mucormycosis. However, the experimental evidence remains limited. This study evaluates the changes in gene expression of Rhizopus arrhizus upon culturing under zinc-enriched conditions. Overall design: mRNA was sequenced from Rhizopus arrhizus NCCPF 710004 after culturing in RPMI-1640 for 6 h without or with 45 µM zinc by Illumina NovaSeq 6000 technology, with 150bp paired end reads.