Although the process of conidial germination in filamentous fungi has been 
extensively studied, many aspects remain to be elucidated since the asexual 
spore or conidium is vital in their life cycle. Breakage and reformation of cell 
wall polymer bonds along with the maintenance of cell wall plasticity during 
conidia germination depend upon a range of hydrolytic enzymes whose activity is 
analogous to that of expansins, a highly conserved group of plant cell wall 
proteins with characteristic wall loosening activity. In the current study, we 
identified and characterized the eglD gene in Aspergillus nidulans, an 
expansin-like gene the product of which shows strong similarities with bacterial 
and fungal endo-beta1,4-glucanases. However, we failed to show such activity in 
vitro. The eglD gene is constitutively expressed in all developmental stages and 
compartments of A. nidulans asexual life cycle. However, the EglD protein is 
exclusively present in conidial cell walls. The role of the EglD protein in 
morphogenesis, growth and germination rate of conidia was investigated. Our 
results show that EglD is a conidial cell wall localized expansin-like protein, 
which could be involved in cell wall remodeling during germination.