Wadman Mayken W, de Vries Ronald P, Kalkhove Stefanie I C, Veldink Gerrit A, Vliegenthart Johannes F G
Bioorganic Chemistry, Utrecht University, 3584 CH, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
BMC Microbiol. 2009 Mar 23;9:59. doi: 10.1186/1471-2180-9-59.
Aspergillus niger is an ascomycetous fungus that is known to reproduce through asexual spores, only. Interestingly, recent genome analysis of A. niger has revealed the presence of a full complement of functional genes related to sexual reproduction 1. An example of such genes are the dioxygenase genes which in Aspergillus nidulans, have been shown to be connected to oxylipin production and regulation of both sexual and asexual sporulation 234. Nevertheless, the presence of sex related genes alone does not confirm sexual sporulation in A. niger.
The current study shows experimentally that A. niger produces the oxylipins 8,11-dihydroxy octadecadienoic acid (8,11-diHOD), 5,8-dihydroxy octadecadienoic acid (5,8-diHOD), lactonized 5,8-diHOD, 8-hydroxy octadecadienoic acid (8-HOD), 10-hydroxy octadecadienoic acid (10-HOD), small amounts of 8-hydroxy octadecamonoenoic acid (8-HOM), 9-hydroxy octadecadienoic acid (9-HOD) and 13-hydroxy octadecadienoic acid (13-HOD). Importantly, this study shows that the A. niger genome contains three putative dioxygenase genes, ppoA, ppoC and ppoD. Expression analysis confirmed that all three genes are indeed expressed under the conditions tested.
A. niger produces the same oxylipins and has similar dioxygenase genes as A. nidulans. Their presence could point towards the existence of sexual reproduction in A. niger or a broader role for the gene products in physiology, than just sexual development.
黑曲霉是一种子囊菌,已知仅通过无性孢子进行繁殖。有趣的是,最近对黑曲霉的基因组分析揭示了存在一整套与有性生殖相关的功能基因1。此类基因的一个例子是双加氧酶基因,在构巢曲霉中,已证明这些基因与氧脂的产生以及有性和无性孢子形成的调控有关234。然而,仅存在与性相关的基因并不能证实黑曲霉中有性孢子的形成。
当前研究通过实验表明,黑曲霉能产生氧脂8,11 - 二羟基十八碳二烯酸(8,11 - 二HOD)、5,8 - 二羟基十八碳二烯酸(5,8 - 二HOD)、内酯化的5,8 - 二HOD、8 - 羟基十八碳二烯酸(8 - HOD)、10 - 羟基十八碳二烯酸(10 - HOD)、少量的8 - 羟基十八碳单烯酸(8 - HOM)、9 - 羟基十八碳二烯酸(9 - HOD)和13 - 羟基十八碳二烯酸(13 - HOD)。重要的是,本研究表明黑曲霉基因组包含三个假定的双加氧酶基因,ppoA、ppoC和ppoD。表达分析证实这三个基因在测试条件下均确实表达。
黑曲霉产生与构巢曲霉相同的氧脂且具有相似的双加氧酶基因。它们的存在可能表明黑曲霉中存在有性生殖,或者这些基因产物在生理学中的作用比仅在性发育方面更广泛。