RmtA, a Putative Arginine Methyltransferase, Regulates Secondary Metabolism and Development in Aspergillus flavus.

ABSTRACT: Aspergillus flavus colonizes numerous oil seed crops such as corn, peanuts, treenuts and cotton worldwide, contaminating them with aflatoxin and other harmful potent toxins. In the phylogenetically related model fungus Aspergillus nidulans, the methyltransferase, RmtA, has been described to be involved in epigenetics regulation through histone modification. Epigenetics regulation affects a variety of cellular processes, including morphogenesis and secondary metabolism. Our study shows that deletion of rmtA in A. flavus results in hyperconidiating colonies, indicating that rmtA is a repressor of asexual development in this fungus. The increase in conidiation in the absence of rmtA coincides with greater expression of brlA, abaA, and wetA compared to that in the wild type. Additionally, the

SUBMITTER: Satterlee T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4877107 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature