Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 9:30 AM
S87

Aspergillus flavus genomics for development of strategies to interrupt aflatoxin formation and discovery of fungal enzymes for biofuel production

Thomas E. Cleveland1, Jiujiang Yu1, Deepak Bhatnagar1, William C. Nierman2, and Gary A. Payne3. (1) U. S. Department of Agriculture, Southern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124, (2) The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, (3) Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, 851 Main Campus Drive, Suite 233, Raleigh, NC 27695-7244

Aspergillus flavus produces toxic and the most carcinogenic mycotoxins, the aflatoxins.  It is also an opportunistic pathogen that infects plants and can infect animals and humans.  The primary objectives of our A. flavus genomics program are to reduce and eliminate aflatoxin contamination in food and feed and control fungal infection in preharvest crops such as corn, cotton, peanut and tree nuts.  A. flavus is a saprophyte having the ability to survive in the natural environment by extracting nutrition from plant debris and dead insects.  The saprophytic property of A. flavus can be explored for its potential benefit in biofuel production. In cooperation between our groups, an A. flavus EST project was completed and a whole genome sequencing project for this fungus is near completion.  Three different types of A. flavus microarrays have been constructed and used in gene profiling and functional genomics studies.  Genes that are potentially involved in aflatoxin formation and fungal infection have been identified.  Data mining of the A. flavus genome demonstrated that A. flavus possesses a whole array of genes encoding enzymes that can breakdown organic materials.  These include 3 cellulases, at least 6 xylanases, over 74 hydrolases, 12 chitinases, 9 alpha amylases, at least 18 pectinases, 8 proteinases, and hundreds of transporters.  These fungal enzymes could play important roles for its saprophytic property.  Novel strain design and genome synthesis can be performed to create a highly efficient bio-degrader for bioconversion, particularly in the production of biofuels.  Results of comparative analysis of several sequenced Aspergillus species are also presented.

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