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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Maricopa, Arizona » U.S. Arid Land Agricultural Research Center » Pest Management and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #407092
Research Project: Improvement of the Aflatoxin Biocontrol Technology Based on Aspergillus flavus Population Biology, Genetics, and Crop Management Practices

Location: Pest Management and Biocontrol Research

Title: Telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of the aflatoxin biocontrol agent Aspergillus flavus isolate La3279 isolated from maize in Nigeria

Author
item LEGAN, ANDREW - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Mehl, Hillary
item WISSOTSKI, MARINA - University Of Arizona
item ADHIKARI, BISHWO - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item Callicott, Kenneth

Submitted to: Microbiology Resource Announcements
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/24/2024
Publication Date: 2/9/2024
Citation: Legan, A.W., Mehl, H.L., Wissotski, M., Adhikari, B.N., Callicott, K.A. 2024. Telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of the aflatoxin biocontrol agent Aspergillus flavus isolate La3279 isolated from maize in Nigeria. Microbiology Resource Announcements. 13. Article e00696-23. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00696-23.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00696-23

Interpretive Summary: We sequenced and assembled the complete genome of Aspergillus flavus isolate La3279. This isolate, originating from maize in Nigeria, does not produce aflatoxin. Furthermore, isolate La3279 can outcompete toxic Aspergillus species in crops, which is why it is used as an active ingredient of the aflatoxin biocontrol product Aflasafe®. Previous work sequenced the La3279 genome and found 25 genes encoding aflatoxin biosynthesis. Another study analyzed the published La3279 genome and found that half of those genes were deleted. To resolve this inconsistency, we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly for A. flavus isolate La3279. At the end of chromosome 3, the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster contained the 25 genes initially reported for La3279. Our La3279 assembly shared 99.31% average nucleotide identity with the previously published assembly, suggesting that assembly belongs to a closely related isolate of A. flavus uploaded in error.

Technical Abstract: Here, we report the complete genome of non-aflatoxigenic Aspergillus flavus isolate La3279, which is an active ingredient of the aflatoxin biocontrol product Aflasafe®. The chromosome-scale assembly clarifies the deletion pattern in the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster and corrects a misidentified assembly previously published for this isolate.