Conservation and Loss of a Putative Iron Utilization Gene Cluster among Genotypes of Aspergillus flavus.

ABSTRACT: Iron is an essential component for growth and development. Despite relative abundance in the environment, bioavailability of iron is limited due to oxidation by atmospheric oxygen into insoluble ferric iron. Filamentous fungi have developed diverse pathways to uptake and use iron. In the current study, a putative iron utilization gene cluster (IUC) in Aspergillus flavus was identified and characterized. Gene analyses indicate A. flavus may use reductive as well as siderophore-mediated iron uptake and utilization pathways. The ferroxidation and iron permeation process, in which iron transport depends on the coupling of these two activities, mediates the reductive pathway. The IUC identified in this work includes six genes and is located in a highly polymorphic region of the ge

SUBMITTER: Adhikari BN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7827000 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature