Comprehensive chemotaxonomic and genomic profiling of a biosynthetically talented Australian fungus, Aspergillus burnettii sp. nov

Cameron L.M. Gilchrist, Heather J. Lacey, Daniel Vuong, John I. Pitt, Lene Lange, Ernest Lacey, Bo Pilgaard, Yit Heng Chooi, Andrew M. Piggott*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

103 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Aspergillus burnettii is a new species belonging to the A. alliaceus clade in Aspergillus subgenus Circumdati section Flavi isolated from peanut-growing properties in southern Queensland, Australia. A. burnettii is a fast-growing, floccose fungus with distinctive brown conidia and is a talented producer of biomass-degrading enzymes and secondary metabolites. Chemical profiling of A. burnettii revealed the metabolites ochratoxin A, kotanins, isokotanins, asperlicin E, anominine and paspalinine, which are common to subgenus Circumdati, together with burnettiene A, burnettramic acids, burnettides, and high levels of 14α-hydroxypaspalinine and hirsutide. The genome of A. burnettii was sequenced and an annotated draft genome is presented. A. burnettii is rich in secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, containing 51 polyketide synthases, 28 non-ribosomal peptide synthetases and 19 genes related to terpene biosynthesis. Functional annotation of digestive enzymes of A. burnettii and A. alliaceus revealed overlapping carbon utilisation profiles, consistent with a close phylogenetic relationship.
Original languageEnglish
Article number103435
JournalFungal Genetics and Biology
Volume143
Number of pages15
ISSN1087-1845
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Aspergillus
  • Secondary metabolites
  • Chemotaxonomy
  • Carbohydrate active enzymes
  • Biosynthetic gene cluster analysis
  • Molecular phylogeny

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Comprehensive chemotaxonomic and genomic profiling of a biosynthetically talented Australian fungus, Aspergillus burnettii sp. nov'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this