Journal article
Linking secondary metabolites to gene clusters through genome sequencing of six diverse Aspergillus species
Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark1
Section for Synthetic Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark2
Section for Microbial and Chemical Ecology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark3
Network Engineering of Eukaryotic Cell factories, Section for Synthetic Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark4
Center for Microbial Secondary Metabolites, Centers, Technical University of Denmark5
Fungal Chemodiversity, Section for Microbial and Chemical Ecology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark6
United States Department of Energy7
University of Manchester8
Natural Product Discovery, Section for Microbial and Chemical Ecology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark9
Department of Biotechnology, Technical University of Denmark10
Eukaryotic Molecular Cell Biology, Section for Synthetic Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark11
...and 1 moreThe fungal genus of Aspergillus is highly interesting, containing everything from industrial cell factories, model organisms, and human pathogens. In particular, this group has a prolific production of bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs). In this work, four diverse Aspergillus species (A. campestris, A. novofumigatus, A. ochraceoroseus, and A. steynii) have been whole-genome PacBio sequenced to provide genetic references in three Aspergillus sections.
A. taichungensis and A. candidus also were sequenced for SM elucidation. Thirteen Aspergillus genomes were analyzed with comparative genomics to determine phylogeny and genetic diversity, showing that each presented genome contains 15–27% genes not found in other sequenced Aspergilli. In particular, A. novofumigatus was compared with the pathogenic species A. fumigatus.
This suggests that A. novofumigatus can produce most of the same allergens, virulence, and pathogenicity factors as A. fumigatus, suggesting that A. novofumigatus could be as pathogenic as A. fumigatus. Furthermore, SMs were linked to gene clusters based on biological and chemical knowledge and analysis, genome sequences, and predictive algorithms.
We thus identify putative SM clusters for aflatoxin, chlorflavonin, and ochrindol in A. ochraceoroseus, A. campestris, and A. steynii, respectively, and novofumigatonin, ent-cycloechinulin, and epi-aszonalenins in A. novofumigatus. Our study delivers six fungal genomes, showing the large diversity found in the Aspergillus genus; highlights the potential for discovery of beneficial or harmful SMs; and supports reports of A. novofumigatus pathogenicity.
It also shows how biological, biochemical, and genomic information can be combined to identify genes involved in the biosynthesis of specific SMs.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | National Academy of Sciences |
Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | E753-E761 |
ISSN: | 10916490 and 00278424 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1715954115 |
ORCIDs: | 0000-0002-1332-1810 , Andersen, Mikael R. , Kjærbølling, Inge , Vesth, Tammi C. , Frisvad, Jens C. , Nybo, Jane L. , Matsuda, Yudai , Mortensen, Uffe H. and Larsen, Thomas O. |