secondary metabolism
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceIntegrative Activity of Mating Loci, Environmentally Responsive Genes, and Secondary Metabolism Pathways during Sexual Development of Chaetomium globosumFungal diversity has amazed evolutionary biologists for decades. One societally important aspect of this diversity manifests in traits that enable pathogenicity. The opportunistic pathogen Chaetomium globosum is well adapted to a high-humidity environment and produces numerous secondary metabolites that defend it from predation. Many of these chemicals can threaten...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceRapid Phenotypic and Metabolomic Domestication of Wild Penicillium Molds on CheeseIndustrial cultures of filamentous fungi are used to add unique aesthetics and flavors to cheeses and other microbial foods. How these microbes adapted to live in food environments is generally unknown as most microbial domestication is unintentional. Our work demonstrates that wild molds closely related to the starter culture Penicillium camemberti can readily lose...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceA Single Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Is Responsible for the Production of Bagremycin Antibiotics and Ferroverdin Iron ChelatorsAccess to whole-genome sequences has exposed the general incidence of the so-called cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), thereby renewing their interest for natural product discovery. As a consequence, genome mining is the often first approach implemented to assess the potential of a microorganism for producing novel bioactive metabolites. By revealing a new level of complexity of natural product biosynthesis, we further...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceA Robust Phylogenomic Time Tree for Biotechnologically and Medically Important Fungi in the Genera Aspergillus and PenicilliumUnderstanding the evolution of traits across technologically and medically significant fungi requires a robust phylogeny. Even though species in the Aspergillus and Penicillium genera (family Aspergillaceae, class Eurotiomycetes) are some of the most significant technologically and medically relevant fungi, we still lack a genome-scale phylogeny of...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyIntegration of Fungus-Specific CandA-C1 into a Trimeric CandA Complex Allowed Splitting of the Gene for the Conserved Receptor Exchange Factor of CullinA E3 Ubiquitin Ligases in AspergilliAspergillus species are important for biotechnological applications, like the production of citric acid or antibacterial agents. Aspergilli can cause food contamination or invasive aspergillosis to immunocompromised humans or animals. Specific treatment is difficult due to limited drug targets and emerging resistances. The CandA complex regulates, as a receptor...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceTiming the Evolutionary Advent of Cyanobacteria and the Later Great Oxidation Event Using Gene Phylogenies of a SunscreenThe advent of cyanobacteria, with their invention of oxygenic photosynthesis, and the Great Oxidation Event are arguably among the most important events in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. Oxygen is a significant toxicant to all life, but its accumulation in the atmosphere also enabled the successful development and proliferation of many aerobic organisms, especially metazoans. The currently favored dating of the Great...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceFitness Cost of Aflatoxin Production in Aspergillus flavus When Competing with Soil Microbes Could Maintain Balancing SelectionAflatoxin, produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, is an extremely potent hepatotoxin that causes acute toxicosis and cancer, and it incurs hundreds of millions of dollars annually in agricultural losses. Despite the importance of this toxin to humans, it has remained unclear what the fungus gains by producing aflatoxin. In fact, not all strains of...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Widely Conserved ebo Cluster Is Involved in Precursor Transport to the Periplasm during Scytonemin Synthesis in Nostoc punctiformeElucidating the biochemical and genetic basis of scytonemin constitutes an interesting challenge because of its unique structure and the unusual fact that it is partially synthesized in the periplasmic space. Our work points to the ebo gene cluster, associated with the scytonemin operon of cyanobacteria, as being responsible for the excretion of scytonemin intermediates from the cytoplasm into the periplasm during biosynthesis...