Population-Specific Transcriptomic Shifts Underlie Secondary Metabolic Diversification in <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> and the Domestication of <i>Aspergillus oryzae</i>.

ABSTRACT: The genomic signatures of microbial domestication remain poorly understood within the context of natural population variation. Here, we demonstrate that Aspergillus oryzae, the filamentous fungus used in soy sauce production, shares more recent ancestry with a predominantly northern, largely non-aflatoxigenic population of Aspergillus flavus (population C). Strikingly, A. oryzae isolates also overlap with the recently described, clinically enriched A. flavus population D, suggesting the possibility of multiple domestication events. Although A. oryzae exhibits reduced virulence compared to A. flavus, all isolates tested retained pathogenicity in a zebrafish infection model. At the transcriptomic level, Aspergillus populations are significantl

SUBMITTER: Drott MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12621884 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature