Section Flavi encompasses both harmful and beneficial Aspergillus species, such as Aspergillus oryzae, used in food fermentation and enzyme production, and Aspergillus flavus, food spoiler and ...mycotoxin producer. Here, we sequence 19 genomes spanning section Flavi and compare 31 fungal genomes including 23 Flavi species. We reassess their phylogenetic relationships and show that the closest relative of A. oryzae is not A. flavus, but A. minisclerotigenes or A. aflatoxiformans and identify high genome diversity, especially in sub-telomeric regions. We predict abundant CAZymes (598 per species) and prolific secondary metabolite gene clusters (73 per species) in section Flavi. However, the observed phenotypes (growth characteristics, polysaccharide degradation) do not necessarily correlate with inferences made from the predicted CAZyme content. Our work, including genomic analyses, phenotypic assays, and identification of secondary metabolites, highlights the genetic and metabolic diversity within section Flavi.
Ustiloxins A and B are toxic cyclic tetrapeptides, Tyr-Val/Ala-Ile-Gly (Y-V/A-I-G), that were originally identified from Ustilaginoidea virens, a pathogenic fungus affecting rice plants. Contrary to ...our report that ustiloxin B is ribosomally synthesized in Aspergillus flavus, a recent report suggested that ustiloxins are synthesized by a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase in U.virens. Thus, we analyzed the U.virens genome, to identify the responsible gene cluster.
The biosynthetic gene cluster was identified from the genome of U.virens based on homologies to the ribosomal peptide biosynthetic gene cluster for ustiloxin B identified from A.flavus. It contains a gene encoding precursor protein having five Tyr-Val-Ile-Gly and three Tyr-Ala-Ile-Gly motifs for ustiloxins A and B, respectively, strongly indicating that ustiloxins A and B from U.virens are ribosomally synthesized.
Accession codes of the U.virens and A.flavus gene clusters in NCBI are BR001221 and BR001206, respectively. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Aspergilli known as black- and white-koji molds which are used for awamori, shochu, makgeolli and other food and beverage fermentations, are reported in the literature as A. luchuensis, A. awamori, ...A. kawachii, or A. acidus. In order to elucidate the taxonomic position of these species, available ex-type cultures were compared based on morphology and molecular characters. A. luchuensis, A. kawachii and A. acidus showed the same banding patterns in RAPD, and the three species had the same rDNA-ITS, β-tubulin and calmodulin sequences and these differed from those of the closely related A. niger and A. tubingensis. Morphologically, the three species are not significantly different from each other or from A. niger and A. tubingensis. It is concluded that A. luchuensis, A. kawachii and A. acidus are the same species, and A. luchuensis is selected as the correct name based on priority. Strains of A. awamori which are stored in National Research Institute of Brewing in Japan, represent A. niger (n = 14) and A. luchuensis (n = 6). The neotype of A. awamori (CBS 557.65 = NRRL 4948) does not originate from awamori fermentation and it is shown to be identical with the unknown taxon Aspergillus welwitschiae. Extrolite analysis of strains of A. luchuensis showed that they do not produce mycotoxins and therefore can be considered safe for food and beverage fermentations. A. luchuensis is also frequently isolated from meju and nuruk in Korea and Puerh tea in China and the species is probably common in the fermentation environment of East Asia. A re-description of A. luchuensis is provided because the incomplete data in the original literature.
The biosynthetic machinery of the first fungal ribosomally synthesized and post‐translationally modified peptide (RiPP) ustiloxin B was elucidated through a series of gene inactivation and ...heterologous expression studies. The results confirmed an essential requirement for novel oxidases possessing the DUF3328 motif for macrocyclization, and highly unique side‐chain modifications by three oxidases (UstCF1F2) and a pyridoxal 5′‐phosphate (PLP)‐dependent enzyme (UstD). These findings provide new insight into the expression of the RiPP gene clusters found in various fungi.
The biosynthetic machinery for the fungal ribosomally synthesized and post‐translationally modified peptide (RiPP) ustiloxin was elucidated by gene inactivation, heterologous expression, and in vitro studies. The details include formation of a cyclic peptide by novel oxidases harboring a DUF3328 motif and unique modification reactions for construction of the side chain on the aromatic ring. These findings set the stage for elucidating the biosynthesis of fungal RiPPs.
Microbial production of fats and oils is being developed as a means of converting biomass to biofuels. Here we investigate enhancing expression of enzymes involved in the production of fatty acids ...and triglycerides as a means to increase production of these compounds in
Aspergillus oryzae
. Examination of the
A. oryzae
genome demonstrates that it contains two fatty acid synthases and several other genes that are predicted to be part of this biosynthetic pathway. We enhanced the expression of fatty acid synthesis-related genes by replacing their promoters with the promoter from the constitutively highly expressed gene
tef1.
We demonstrate that by simply increasing the expression of the fatty acid synthase genes we successfully increased the production of fatty acids and triglycerides by more than two-fold. Enhancement of expression of the fatty acid pathway genes ATP-citrate lyase and palmitoyl-ACP thioesterase increased productivity to a lesser extent. Increasing expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase caused no detectable change in fatty acid levels. Increases in message level for each gene were monitored using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Our data demonstrate that a simple increase in the abundance of fatty acid synthase genes can increase the detectable amount of fatty acids.
•The entire gene cluster responsible for ustiloxin B biosynthesis was validated.•A ribosomal peptide synthesis (RiPS) pathway was first characterized in Ascomycetes.•The precursor peptide possesses a ...16-fold repeated peptide including YAIG.
Ustiloxin B is a secondary metabolite known to be produced by Ustilaginoidea virens. In our previous paper, we observed the production of this compound by Aspergillus flavus, and identified two A. flavus genes responsible for ustiloxin B biosynthesis (Umemura et al., 2013). The compound is a cyclic tetrapeptide of Tyr-Ala-Ile-Gly, whose tyrosine is modified with a non-protein coding amino acid, norvaline. Although its chemical structure strongly suggested that ustiloxin B is biosynthesized by a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase, in the present study, we observed its synthesis through a ribosomal peptide synthetic (RiPS) pathway by precise sequence analyses after experimental validation of the cluster. The cluster possessed a gene (AFLA_094980), termed ustA, whose translated product, UstA, contains a 16-fold repeated peptide embedding a tetrapeptide, Tyr-Ala-Ile-Gly, that is converted into the cyclic moiety of ustiloxin B. This result strongly suggests that ustiloxin B is biosynthesized through a RiPS pathway and that UstA provides the precursor peptide of the compound. The present work is the first characterization of RiPS in Ascomycetes and the entire RiPS gene cluster in fungi. Based on the sequence analyses, we also proposed a biosynthetic mechanism involving the entire gene cluster. Our finding indicates the possibility that a number of unidentified RiPSs exist in Ascomycetes as the biosynthetic genes of secondary metabolites, and that the feature of a highly repeated peptide sequence in UstA will greatly contribute to the discovery of additional RiPS.
Despite their biological importance, a significant number of genes for secondary metabolite biosynthesis (SMB) remain undetected due largely to the fact that they are highly diverse and are not ...expressed under a variety of cultivation conditions. Several software tools including SMURF and antiSMASH have been developed to predict fungal SMB gene clusters by finding core genes encoding polyketide synthase, nonribosomal peptide synthetase and dimethylallyltryptophan synthase as well as several others typically present in the cluster. In this work, we have devised a novel comparative genomics method to identify SMB gene clusters that is independent of motif information of the known SMB genes. The method detects SMB gene clusters by searching for a similar order of genes and their presence in nonsyntenic blocks. With this method, we were able to identify many known SMB gene clusters with the core genes in the genomic sequences of 10 filamentous fungi. Furthermore, we have also detected SMB gene clusters without core genes, including the kojic acid biosynthesis gene cluster of Aspergillus oryzae. By varying the detection parameters of the method, a significant difference in the sequence characteristics was detected between the genes residing inside the clusters and those outside the clusters.
Aspergillus oryzae, a useful industrial filamentous fungus, produces limited varieties of secondary metabolites, such as kojic acid. Thus, for the production of valuable secondary metabolites by ...genetic engineering, the species is considered a clean host, enabling easy purification from cultured cells. A. oryzae has been evaluated for secondary metabolite production utilizing strong constitutive promoters of genes responsible for primary metabolism. However, secondary metabolites are typically produced by residual nutrition after microbial cells grow to the stationary phase and primary metabolism slows. We focused on a promoter of the secondary metabolism gene kojA, a component of the kojic acid biosynthetic gene cluster, for the production of other secondary metabolites by A. oryzae.
A kojA disruptant that does not produce kojic acid was utilized as a host strain for production. Using this host strain, a mutant that expressed a polyketide synthase gene involved in polyketide secondary metabolite production under the kojA gene promoter was constructed. Then, polyketide production and polyketide synthase gene expression were observed every 24 h in liquid culture. From days 0 to 10 of culture, the polyketide was continuously produced, and the synthase gene expression was maintained. Therefore, the kojA promoter was activated, and it enabled the continuous production of polyketide for 10 days.
The combined use of the kojA gene promoter and a kojA disruptant proved useful for the continuous production of a polyketide secondary metabolite in A. oryzae. These findings suggest that this combination can be applied to other secondary metabolites for long-term production.
Many bioactive natural products are produced as “secondary metabolites” by plants, bacteria, and fungi. During the middle of the 20th century, several secondary metabolites from fungi revolutionized ...the pharmaceutical industry, for example, penicillin, lovastatin, and cyclosporine. They are generally biosynthesized by enzymes encoded by clusters of coordinately regulated genes, and several motif-based methods have been developed to detect secondary metabolite biosynthetic (SMB) gene clusters using the sequence information of typical SMB core genes such as polyketide synthases (PKS) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS). However, no detection method exists for SMB gene clusters that are functional and do not include core SMB genes at present. To advance the exploration of SMB gene clusters, especially those without known core genes, we developed MIDDAS-M, a m otif- i ndependent d e novo d etection a lgorithm for SM B gene clusters. We integrated virtual gene cluster generation in an annotated genome sequence with highly sensitive scoring of the cooperative transcriptional regulation of cluster member genes. MIDDAS-M accurately predicted 38 SMB gene clusters that have been experimentally confirmed and/or predicted by other motif-based methods in 3 fungal strains. MIDDAS-M further identified a new SMB gene cluster for ustiloxin B, which was experimentally validated. Sequence analysis of the cluster genes indicated a novel mechanism for peptide biosynthesis independent of NRPS. Because it is fully computational and independent of empirical knowledge about SMB core genes, MIDDAS-M allows a large-scale, comprehensive analysis of SMB gene clusters, including those with novel biosynthetic mechanisms that do not contain any functionally characterized genes.
•94 ustiloxin-like ribosomal peptide precursor genes were identified from Aspergilli.•Function-unknown ustYa and ustYb are likely involved in ustiloxin B cyclization.•Homologous genes to ustYa/Yb are ...observed mainly in Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.•The precursor genes are coupled with ustYa/Yb homologous genes on genomes.•One set of identified genes produces a newly identified bicyclic ribosomal peptide.
Ustiloxins were found recently to be the first example of cyclic peptidyl secondary metabolites that are ribosomally synthesized in filamentous fungi. In this work, two function-unknown genes (ustYa/ustYb) in the gene cluster for ustiloxins from Aspergillus flavus were found experimentally to be involved in cyclization of the peptide. Their homologous genes are observed mainly in filamentous fungi and mushrooms. They have two “HXXHC” motifs that might form active sites. Computational genome analyses showed that these genes are frequently located near candidate genes for ribosomal peptide precursors, which have signal peptides at the N-termini and repeated sequences with core peptides for the cyclic portions, in the genomes of filamentous fungi, particularly Aspergilli, as observed in the ustiloxin gene cluster. Based on the combination of the ustYa/ustYb homologous genes and the nearby ribosomal peptide precursor candidate genes, 94 ribosomal peptide precursor candidates that were identified computationally from Aspergilli genome sequences were classified into more than 40 types including a wide variety of core peptide sequences. A set of the predicted ribosomal peptide biosynthetic genes was experimentally verified to synthesize a new cyclic peptide compound, designated as asperipin-2a, which comprises the amino acid sequence in the corresponding precursor gene, distinct from the ustiloxin precursors.
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