Fungal α-carbonic anhydrases

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are widely distributed in the fungal kingdom and play crucial roles for their growth, development, virulence, and survival. Known fungal CAs belong either to the α- or the β-classes, with the α-class encoded only in filamentous ascomycetes. Here we report the main findings relative to α-CAs characterized so far from different fungi, namely Aspergillus oryzae, Sordaria macrospora and Paracoccidioides. Structural, functional and biochemical data will be discussed underlying the necessity of more research efforts to gain a comprehensive understanding of fungal α-CAs.