Genetics and genomics of enteroarthroconidial development in Coccidioides

Single-cell RNA-seq across Coccidioides colonies identified gene expression programs in disjunctor cells, and genetic tests linked a pyropoptosis-like cell death pathway to enteroarthroconidial development.

• Why it matters: Spore dispersal depends on disjunctor cell death, but the molecular basis of this unique developmental form is unexplored.
• What they did: The study used single-cell RNA-seq to catalog expression across Coccidioides colonies, then applied gene deletion and protein tagging to test pathway roles.
• The result: A pyropoptosis-like cell death pathway was established as involved in enteroarthroconidial development, enabling molecular dissection of how disjunctor death supports dispersal.