Premium
Development of Genetic Dereplication Strains in Aspergillus nidulans Results in the Discovery of Aspercryptin
Author(s) -
Chiang YiMing,
Ahuja Manmeet,
Oakley C. Elizabeth,
Entwistle Ruth,
Asokan Anabanadam,
Zutz Christoph,
Wang Clay C. C.,
Oakley Berl R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201507097
Subject(s) - aspergillus nidulans , secondary metabolite , metabolite , gene , strain (injury) , biology , aspergillus , computational biology , natural product , secondary metabolism , biosynthesis , chemistry , biochemistry , genetics , mutant , anatomy
Abstract To reduce the secondary metabolite background in Aspergillus nidulans and minimize the rediscovery of compounds and pathway intermediates, we created a “genetic dereplication” strain in which we deleted eight of the most highly expressed secondary metabolite gene clusters (more than 244,000 base pairs deleted in total). This strain allowed us to discover a novel compound that we designate aspercryptin and to propose a biosynthetic pathway for the compound. Interestingly, aspercryptin is formed from compounds produced by two separate gene clusters, one of which makes the well‐known product cichorine. This raises the exciting possibility that fungi use differential regulation of expression of secondary metabolite gene clusters to increase the diversity of metabolites they produce.