HPD and infection: To assess if hpdA is required for ex vivo yeast growth, wildtype conidia were used to infect murine J774 macrophages in the absence and presence of the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HpdA) chemical inhibitor NTBC (2-(2-nitro-4-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)-cyclohexane-1, 3-dione) and examined 24 hours post-infection [2, 27, 28].