FIG 2 .

The IRD is required for hyphal growth and asexual development. (A) Colony morphologies of the control strain, the rasA deletion mutant (ΔrasA), the IRD truncation mutant (RasAΔIRD), and mutants expressing N-terminal chimeras including the IRD regions from S. cerevisiae (ScAf), N. crassa (NcAf), and C. neoformans (CnAf). For each mutant, the N-terminal RasA protein sequence resulting from mutational analysis is displayed. Equal numbers of conidia (10⁴ total conidia) were inoculated onto the middle of AMM agar plates and allowed to grow for 5 days at 37°C. (B) Graphical representation of colony diameters from each strain (10⁴ total conidia) over 5 days of growth at 37°C. Each culture was assayed in triplicate, and results were averaged. The graph displays the average for each time point ± standard deviation. (C) Enumeration of conidia produced by each strain after 3 days of growth at 37°C. Equal numbers of conidia (2 × 10⁴ total conidia) were spread onto AMM agar and incubated for 3 days. Conidia were harvested from each plate in 20 ml of water, washed 3 times with water, resuspended in 10 ml of water, and enumerated. Data are presented as the total conidia per plate and are the average from two experiments ± standard deviation.