Journal article
Comparative genomics reveals high biological diversity and specific adaptations in the industrially and medically important fungal genus Aspergillus
Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute1
Leiden University2
CSIRO3
University of Göttingen4
Maynooth University5
University of Seville6
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna7
Broad Institute of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology8
Huazhong Agricultural University9
Universidade Estadual de Campinas10
National Research Council of Italy11
Utrecht University12
Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research13
Université libre de Bruxelles14
University of Nottingham15
Aix-Marseille Université16
Institut Pasteur de Montevideo17
National Public Education Administration18
INRAE19
King Abdulaziz University20
University of Helsinki21
Dutch DNA Biotech22
United States Department of Energy23
University of Amsterdam24
University of St Andrews25
University of Ioannina26
St. Petersburg State University27
CSIC28
Universidade Federal de São Carlos29
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences30
Swedish Chemicals Agency31
Technical University of Berlin32
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas33
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México34
Concordia University35
Kyungpook National University36
Université Paris-Saclay37
Universidad de la República38
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology39
University of Sulaimani40
University of Ljubljana41
Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute42
Stanford University43
Kansas State University44
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens45
BaseClear B.V.46
Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark47
Network Engineering of Eukaryotic Cell factories, Section for Synthetic Biology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark48
University of Wisconsin-Madison49
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory50
Friedrich Schiller University Jena51
Fungal Chemodiversity, Section for Microbial and Chemical Ecology, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark52
Universidade de São Paulo53
University of Kansas54
Imperial College London55
Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais56
Vienna University of Technology57
Seres Therapeutics, Inc.58
VTT Brasil59
National Institute of Chemistry Ljubljana60
University of Debrecen61
...and 51 moreBackground: The fungal genus Aspergillus is of critical importance to humankind. Species include those with industrial applications, important pathogens of humans, animals and crops, a source of potent carcinogenic contaminants of food, and an important genetic model. The genome sequences of eight aspergilli have already been explored to investigate aspects of fungal biology, raising questions about evolution and specialization within this genus.
Results: We have generated genome sequences for ten novel, highly diverse Aspergillus species and compared these in detail to sister and more distant genera. Comparative studies of key aspects of fungal biology, including primary and secondary metabolism, stress response, biomass degradation, and signal transduction, revealed both conservation and diversity among the species.
Observed genomic differences were validated with experimental studies. This revealed several highlights, such as the potential for sex in asexual species, organic acid production genes being a key feature of black aspergilli, alternative approaches for degrading plant biomass, and indications for the genetic basis of stress response.
A genome-wide phylogenetic analysis demonstrated in detail the relationship of the newly genome sequenced species with other aspergilli. Conclusions: Many aspects of biological differences between fungal species cannot be explained by current knowledge obtained from genome sequences. The comparative genomics and experimental study, presented here, allows for the first time a genus-wide view of the biological diversity of the aspergilli and in many, but not all, cases linked genome differences to phenotype.
Insights gained could be exploited for biotechnological and medical applications of fungi.
| Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | BioMed Central |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Pages: | 28 |
| ISSN: | 1474760x , 14747596 , 14656914 and 14656906 |
| Types: | Journal article |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s13059-017-1151-0 |
| ORCIDs: | Vesth, Tammi Camilla , Andersen, Mikael Rørdam and Frisvad, Jens Christian |
Adaptation, Biological Biodiversity Biomass Carbon Computational Biology Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System DNA Methylation Fungal Proteins Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal Gene Regulatory Networks Genome, Fungal Genomics Humans Metabolic Networks and Pathways Molecular Sequence Annotation Multigene Family Oxidoreductases Phylogeny Plants Secondary Metabolism Signal Transduction Stress, Physiological
