Fungal Cell Wall

Dear Colleagues,

The fungal cell is surrounded by a wall, which acts as a sieve, as well as a reservoir, for effector molecules that play an active role during infection. Considered a living organelle, the cell wall is essential for growth and crucial for resisting host defense mechanisms. Polysaccharides constitute >70% of the cell wall, and their biosynthesis is under the control of three types of enzymes: Transmembrane synthases, cell wall associated transglycosidases, and glycosylhydrolases; these are responsible for the remodeling of the de novo synthesized polysaccharides resulting in the characteristic three-dimensional structure of the cell wall. While certain polysaccharides are species- or genus- specific, some of them, such as β-(1,3)-glucan and chitin, are common to all fungal species, but both display fungus- and morphotype-specific differences in their concentration and localization. The cell wall is covered by an outer layer or extracellular matrix with hydrophobic, adhesive, and protective properties and plays a major role during infection. Importantly, host recognition of the fungal cell wall is essential for the initiation of the immune response. Moreover, because of their specific composition, the fungal cell wall and its outer layer are unique targets for the development of drugs against pathogenic fungal species.

Dr. Anne Beauvais
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.