Two phytochromes FphA and FphB in Aspergillus fumigatus are involved in light responses and attenuate pathogenicity

Phytochrome acts as red-light receptor in fungi and controls light-dependent gene expression. Here we studied the role of two putative phytochromes FphA and FphB in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Whereas FphA is involved in light responses, FphB is not photoactiv. Transcriptomic analyses of wild-type, fphA- and fphB-deletion strains showed that FphB is involved in the production of secondary metabolites related to pathogenicity.