Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #265143
Title: The release of the Aspergillus flavus whole genome sequence for public access

Author
item PAYNE, GARY - North Carolina State University
item DEAN, RALPH - North Carolina State University
item NIERMAN, WILLIAM - J Craig Venter Institute
item AMEDEO, PAOLO - J Craig Venter Institute
item CALER, ELIZABET - J Craig Venter Institute
item FEDOROVA, NATALIE - J Craig Venter Institute
item MAITI, RAMA - J Craig Venter Institute
item JOARDAR, VINITA - J Craig Venter Institute
item INMAN, JASON - J Craig Venter Institute
item GALINSKY, KEVIN - J Craig Venter Institute
item Yu, Jiujiang
item Bhatnagar, Deepak
item Cleveland, Thomas

Submitted to: Germplasm Release
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/14/2009
Publication Date: 1/15/2010
Citation: Payne, G.A., Dean, R.A., Nierman, W.C., Amedeo, P., Caler, E.A., Fedorova, N., Maiti, R., Joardar, V.S., Inman, J., Galinsky, K.J., Yu, J., Bhatnagar, D., Cleveland, T.E. 2010. The release of the Aspergillus flavus whole genome sequence for public access. Germplasm Release. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank Database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore).

Interpretive Summary: Aflatoxins are produced by the fungal mold Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. They are the most potent natural toxins to human and animal. These compounds can induce cancer. Contamination of agricultural commodities by aflatoxins poses serious health hazard to animals and human beings. Studies on the mechanism of aflatoxin formation have been advanced from traditional molecular method to genomic scale. Aspergillus flavus genomics is to reveal all genetic blue print and to provide a rapid and effective method for identification of the genes involved in aflatoxin formation. The Aspergillus flavus genome sequence project was initiated. The objectives of this research are to better understand the mechanisms of aflatoxin formation, regulation in response to environmental conditions, and eventually to devise strategies for prevention of aflatoxin contamination in food and feed. The availability of Aspergillus flavus genome sequence data will help scientists in understanding the mechanism of aflatoxin formation and fungal infection in crops for devising strategies to control aflatoxin contamination.

Technical Abstract: Aflatoxins are produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. These toxic and carcinogenic compounds contaminate pre-harvest agricultural crops in the field and post-harvest grains during storage. In order to reduce and eliminate aflatoxin contamination of food and feed, Aspergilllus flavus whole genome sequencing has been completed. The 36 Mb whole genome sequence, consisting of 333 scarfolds from 4149026 bp to 211 bp in length, has been submitted to and release at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank Database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore) and assigned the accession # EQ963473 AAIH02000000. The availability of the sequence data to the public has a significant impact to the research community in studying fungal genetics, fungal biology and plant pathology for reducing and eliminating aflatoxin contamination of food and feed.