Monascus spp. are widely used in the production of monacolin K and food- grade pigments in East Asia. In Aspergillus species, the three transcription factors BrlA → AbaA → WetA sequentially function as the central activators of asexual development (conidiation), leading to the formation of conidiophores. Unlike their close relative Aspergillus spp., Monascus spp. produce basipetospora-type asexual spores (conidia), and their genomes contain homologs of brlA and wetA but not abaA. In the present study, to investigate their roles in Monascus conidiation, MrbrlA and MrwetA were functionally characterized by gene knockout and overexpression in Monascus ruber M7. The results revealed that the deletion and overexpression of MrbrlA and/or MrwetA caused no apparent changes in the morphology, size, number, structure, or germination of conidia. However, deletion and overexpression of MrwetA severely repressed sexual development and affected the production of secondary metabolites. Taken together, these results suggest that the well-established central regulatory model of conidiation in Aspergillus is not applicable in their Monascus relatives. The results of the present study could enrich our understanding of the asexual development regulatory networks in filamentous fungi.

红曲霉属 在东亚地区广泛用于莫纳可林K和食品级颜料的生产。在曲霉属物种中，三个转录因子 BrlA → AbaA → WetA 依次充当无性发育（分生孢子）的中心激活剂，导致分生孢子梗的形成。与它们的近亲曲霉属不同，红曲霉属。农产品basipetospora型无性孢子（分生孢子），和它们的基因组包含的同系物brlA和WETA但不ABAA。在本研究中，为了调查它们在红曲霉分生孢子、MrbrlA和MrwetA 中的作用在红曲霉M7 中通过基因敲除和过度表达进行功能表征。结果表明，MrbrlA和/或MrwetA的缺失和过表达未引起分生孢子的形态、大小、数量、结构或萌发的明显变化。然而，MrwetA 的缺失和过度表达严重抑制了性发育并影响了次级代谢产物的产生。综上所述，这些结果表明曲霉中成熟的分生孢子中央调节模型不适用于它们的红曲霉亲戚们。本研究的结果可以丰富我们对丝状真菌无性发育调控网络的理解。