title: Deleting the citrinin biosynthesis-related gene, ctnE, to greatly reduce citrinin production in Monascus aurantiacus Li AS3.4384.
abstract: For thousands of years, fermentation products of the filamentous fungi Monascus spp. have been used extensively in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, their development is limited because of the health threats from the mycotoxin citrinin, known to be produced by these fungi. Citrinin is recognized as a hepato-nephrotoxin which possesses potential genotoxicity, tumorigenicity, carcinogenicity, embryotoxicity, and teratogenicity. Studies have shown that citrinin biosynthesis is intimately related to pksCT, orf1, ctnA, orf3, ctnB and ctnG. The ctnE gene, which is located 3.3kb upstream of ctnA, encodes a protein that showed significant similarity to the dehydrogenase. In this study, the role of ctnE in citrinin biosynthesis was investigated by means of gene knockout technology. The ctnE disruptant significantly reduced citrinin production by 96%, which suggested that ctnE is important in citrinin biosynthesis. Moreover, the mutant produced 40% more pigments than the wild-type. This work contributes to the study of the citrinin biosynthesis pathway in Monascus, and the methodology described in this article can fundamentally lower the risk of citrinin contamination in Monascus aurantiacus Li AS3.4384 which has important significance for food safety.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Nanchang University, No. 999 Xuefu Road, Nanchang 330031, People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China; Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China; Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China; Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China; Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Bing
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China; Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, No. 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China; Jiangxi-OAI Joint Research Institute, Nanchang University, 235 Nanjing East Road, Nanchang 330047, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: liyanping@ncu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yan-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D002953:Citrinin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D032741:Monascus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D002953:Citrinin; D010088:Oxidoreductases
keywords: Citrinin biosynthesis-related genes; Gene knockout; Monascus aurantiacus; ctnE Gene