@article{683162c8c2c147768274d9ed91a82a96,
title = "What can the aspergillus flavus genome offer to mycotoxin research?",
abstract = "The genomic study of filamentous fungi has made significant advances in recent years, and the genomes of several species in the genus Aspergillus have been sequenced, including Aspergillus flavus. This ubiquitous mold is present as a saprobe in a wide range of agricultural and natural habits, and can function as an opportunistic animal and plant pathogen. A. flavus produces many secondary metabolites including aflatoxins, aflatrem and cyclopiazonic acid. In this chapter, our main focus is on the current status of the genomics of A. flavus as well as on the potential applications of genomics-based approaches to understanding mycotoxin production and fungal pathogenicity. It is hoped that the results of A. flavus genomics and functional genomics studies will empower researchers to find effective controlling strategies to eliminate mycotoxin contamination and to yield a safer and more abundant food and feed supply.",
keywords = "Aflatoxins, Aspergillus flavus, Fungal genomics, Gene clusters, Mycotoxins, Secondary metabolites",
author = "Jiujiang Yu and Nierman, {William C.} and Fedorova, {Natalie D.} and Deepak Bhatnagar and Cleveland, {Thomas E.} and Bennett, {Joan W.}",
note = "Funding Information: The flavus NRRL3357 whole genome sequencing project was funded by a USDA, National Research Initiative grant awarded to Professors Gary A. Payne and Ralph Dean, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition, the Food and Feed Safety Research Unit of Southern Regional Research Center, USDA/ARS, New Orleans, Louisiana, provided funding for fine finishing and gene calling. The sequencing was completed at TIGR/ JCVI under the supervision of Dr. William C. Nierman, by a shotgun approach and Sanger sequencing protocol. There are many informative facets to the A. flavus genome story. At the most basic level, we now know that the A. flavus genome is organized into eight chromosomes with a genome size of about 36.8 Mb. Aided by the A. flavus EST database, the A. oryzae EST database, and the A. oryzae whole genome sequence, annotation of the sequence data postulates that there are about 12,604 genes in the A. flavus genome, a number similar to those of other sequenced Aspergillus species (Galagan et al. 2005; Machida et al. 2005; Nierman et al. 2005; Yu and Cleveland 2007) (Table 3). The availability of A. flavus and A. oryzae genome sequences allowed scientists to identify the genes for several major mycotoxins. Candidate genes putatively involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolism include those encoding polyketide synthases (PKSs,) non-ribosomal peptide syn-thethases (NRPS), cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, fatty acid synthases (FAS), carboxylases, dehydrogenases, reductases, oxidases, oxidoreductases, epoxide hydrolases, oxygenases, and methyltransferases are identified (Payne et al. 2008; Yu et al. 2010). The sequence data have been deposited to the NCBI RefSeq database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) with the accession no. AAIH02000000, and are also available through the Aspergillus flavus website (http://www.aspergillusflavus. org), Aspergillus Comparative Database of The Broad Institute at MIT (http://www.broadinstitute.org/annotation/ genome/aspergillus_group/MultiHome.html), and Central Aspergillus Data Repository in the United Kingdom (http:/ /www.cadre-genomes.org.uk/aspergillus_links.html).",
year = "2011",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1080/21501203.2011.605180",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "2",
pages = "218--236",
journal = "Mycology",
issn = "2150-1203",
publisher = "Taylor and Francis Ltd.",
number = "3",
}