title: Aspergillus fumigatus alb1 encodes naphthopyrone synthase when expressed in Aspergillus oryzae.
abstract: Conidial pigment biosynthesis is an important virulence factor in Aspergillus fumigatus, a human fungal pathogen. Involvement of DHN-melanin pathway in the biosynthesis of A. fumigatus conidial pigment implies that the Alb1p polyketide synthase (PKS) is a 1,3,6, 8-tetrahydroxynaphthalene (T4HN) synthase. The Alb1p, however, shows higher sequence similarity to a naphthopyrone synthase than to a T4HN synthase. To clarify the function of Alb1p, the alb1 gene was overexpressed in a heterologous host Aspergillus oryzae. The Alb1p PKS product in this heterologous expression system was identified as heptaketide naphthopyrone instead of pentaketide T4HN. The data suggest that Alb1p is a naphthopyrone synthase.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kwon-Chung
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ebizuka
mesh_terms: D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D001236:Aspergillus oryzae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008543:Melanins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes