title: Adenylate Cyclase AcyA Regulates Development, Aflatoxin Biosynthesis and Fungal Virulence inAspergillus flavus.
abstract: Aspergillus flavusis one of the most important opportunistic pathogens of crops and animals. The carcinogenic mycotoxin, aflatoxins produced by this pathogen cause a health problem to human and animals. Since cyclic AMP signaling controls a range of physiological processes, like fungal development and infection when responding to extracellular stimuli in fungal pathogens, in this study, we investigated the function of adenylate cyclase, a core component of cAMP signaling, in aflatoxins biosynthesis and virulence on plant seeds inA.flavus. A gene replacement strategy was used to generate the deletion mutant ofacyAthat encodes the adenylate cyclase. Severe defects in fungal growth, sporulation and sclerotia formation were observed in theacyAdeletion mutant. The defect in radical growth could be partially rescued by exogenous cAMP analog. TheacyAmutant was also significantly reduced in aflatoxins production and virulence. Similar to the former studies in other fungi, TheacyAmutant showed enhancing tolerance to oxidative stress, but more sensitive to heat stress. Overall, the pleiotropic defects of theacyAdeletion mutant indicates that the cAMP-PKA pathway is involved in fungal development, aflatoxins biosynthesis and plant seed invasion inA. flavus.
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Kunlong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qiuping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yinghang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Limei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Huahui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chihao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yunchao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Fujian Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Fungi and Mycotoxins, Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology of Education Ministry, and School of Life Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shihua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000348:Aflatoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D012639:Seeds / Q000382:microbiology*; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000254:growth & development; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000348:Aflatoxins; D000262:Adenylyl Cyclases
keywords: Aspergillus flavus; adenylate cyclase; aflatoxin; cAMP; sclerotia