The impact of the global secondary metabolite regulators LaeA and VeA on echinocandin B production and morphological development was evaluated in the industrial production strain Aspergillus pachycristatus NRRL 11440. Other representative secondary metabolites were examined as well to determine if the velvet complex functions as in A. nidulans and other species of fungi. Genetic methods used for gene manipulations in A. nidulans were applied to A. pachycristatus. Separate deletions of genes Apc.laeA and Apc.veA resulted in similar yet differing phenotypes in strain NRRL 11440. Disruption of Apc.laeA and Apc.veA significantly reduced, but did not eliminate, the production of echinocandin B. Similar to what has been observed in A. nidulans, the production of sterigmatocystin was nearly eliminated in both mutants. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR analyses confirmed that selected genes of both the echinocandin B and sterigmatocystin gene clusters were down-regulated in both mutant types. The two mutants differed with respect to growth of aerial hyphae, pigmentation, development of conidiophores, conidial germination rate, and ascospore maturation. Further functional annotation of key regulatory genes in A. pachycristatus and related Aspergillus species will improve our understanding of regulation of echinocandin production and co-produced metabolites.

中文翻译：

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天鹅绒复合物的Apc.LaeA和Apc.VeA控制着产生棘皮菌素的真菌厚壁曲霉（Aspergillus pachycristatus）的次级代谢和形态发育。

在工业生产菌株Aspergillus pachycristatus NRRL 11440中评估了全球次级代谢产物调节剂LaeA和VeA对棘皮菌素B生产和形态发育的影响。还检查了其他代表性的次级代谢产物，以确定天鹅绒复合物是否像构巢曲霉一样起作用。和其他种类的真菌。在构巢曲霉中用于基因操纵的遗传方法被应用于拟南芥。基因Apc.laeA和Apc.veA的单独缺失导致NRRL 11440菌株具有相似但不同的表型。Apc.laeA和Apc.veA的破坏显着减少但并未消除棘皮菌素B的产生。在构巢曲霉（A.nidulans）中观察到，在两个突变体中几乎都消除了葡萄球菌毒素的产生。定量逆转录PCR分析证实，在两种突变型中，棘皮菌素B和葡萄球菌毒素基因簇的选定基因均被下调。这两个突变体在气生菌丝的生长，色素沉着，分生孢子的形成，分生孢子的萌发率和子囊孢子的成熟方面有所不同。A. pachycristatus和相关曲霉属物种中关键调控基因的进一步功能注释将增进我们对棘皮菌素产生和共同产生的代谢产物的调控的了解。