label: 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-melanin
label_lc: 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-melanin
description: "A melanin pigment produced by certain fungi. It plays important roles in UV protection, oxidative stress and pathogenesis. In Aspergillus fumigatus, it is used as a virulence factor and plays an important role in the survival of the fungus during unfavorable conditions both in vivo and in vitro, and protects it from the host immune system. The pigment is generally synthesised from the pentaketide pathway in which 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene is the immediate precursor which is polymerized to 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-melanin by a laccase enzyme."