Eukaryotic Cell
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Eukaryotic Cell, June 2008, p. 988-1000, Vol. 7, No. 6
1535-9778/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00228-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Modulation of Antioxidant Defense in Aspergillus parasiticus Is Involved in Aflatoxin Biosynthesis: a Role for the ApyapA Gene{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Massimo Reverberi,1 Slaven Zjalic,1 Alessandra Ricelli,2 Federico Punelli,1 Emanuela Camera,3 Claudia Fabbri,3 Mauro Picardo,3 Corrado Fanelli,1 and Anna A. Fabbri1*

Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Università La Sapienza, L.go Cristina di Svezia, 24 00165 Roma, Italy,1 Istituto di Scienze delle Produzioni Alimentari, CNR, Via G. Amendola, 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy,2 Istituto Dermatologico San Gallicano, IRCCS, Via S. Gallicano 25, 00153 Roma, Italy3

Received 27 June 2007/ Accepted 10 April 2008

Oxidative stress is recognized as a trigger of different metabolic events in all organisms. Various factors correlated with oxidation, such as the β-oxidation of fatty acids and their enzymatic or nonenzymatic by-products (e.g., precocious sexual inducer factors and lipoperoxides) have been shown to be involved in aflatoxin formation. In the present study, we found that increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were correlated with increased levels of aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus parasiticus. To better understand the role of ROS formation in toxin production, we generated a mutant ({Delta}ApyapA) having the ApyapA gene deleted, given that ApyapA orthologs have been shown to be part of the antioxidant response in other fungi. Compared to the wild type, the mutant showed an increased susceptibility to extracellular oxidants, as well as precocious ROS formation and aflatoxin biosynthesis. Genetic complementation of the {Delta}ApyapA mutant restored the timing and quantity of toxin biosynthesis to the levels found in the wild type. The presence of putative AP1 (ApYapA orthologue) binding sites in the promoter region of the regulatory gene aflR further supports the finding that ApYapA plays a role in the regulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis. Overall, our results show that the lack of ApyapA leads to an increase in oxidative stress, premature conidiogenesis, and aflatoxin biosynthesis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Università La Sapienza, Largo Cristina di Svezia 24, 00165 Roma, Italy. Phone: 390649917139. Fax: 390649917136 (call before sending). E-mail: adele.fabbri{at}uniroma1.it

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 25 April 2008.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://ec.asm.org/.

Eukaryotic Cell, June 2008, p. 988-1000, Vol. 7, No. 6
1535-9778/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00228-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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Copyright © 2008 by the American Society for Microbiology.