Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress

Aspergillus westerdijkiae is a major producer of ochratoxin A (OTA), a highly toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin found in various food and feed products. A. westerdijkiae produces excessive amount of OTA under various water activity (aw) conditions that occur during food and feed storage. The biosynth...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yanling Ma, Mingxuan Li, Tanvir Ahmad, Yingyao Deng, Muyuan Zhuang, Guangyou Tan, Yang Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-10-01
Series:Mycology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21501203.2024.2355333
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850062088112701440
author Yanling Ma
Mingxuan Li
Tanvir Ahmad
Yingyao Deng
Muyuan Zhuang
Guangyou Tan
Yang Liu
author_facet Yanling Ma
Mingxuan Li
Tanvir Ahmad
Yingyao Deng
Muyuan Zhuang
Guangyou Tan
Yang Liu
author_sort Yanling Ma
collection DOAJ
description Aspergillus westerdijkiae is a major producer of ochratoxin A (OTA), a highly toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin found in various food and feed products. A. westerdijkiae produces excessive amount of OTA under various water activity (aw) conditions that occur during food and feed storage. The biosynthetic gene clusters associated with OTA production include OTAbZIP, which plays a key role in controlling mycotoxin production in response to environmental conditions. This study explored the regulation of OTA biosynthesis in A. westerdijkiae fc-1, focusing on the OTAbZIP gene’s influence under aw stress. The mycelium growth of A. westerdijkiae fc-1 wild type and OTAbZIP mutant strains increased by 40.7% and 50.5% under high water activity (0.96 aw) respectively, at 6 days post-inoculation (dpi), indicating a stress on A. westerdijkiae fc-1. While OTAbZIP mutant did not produce OTA under both high and moderate aW conditions. The wild type produced OTA and OTA biosynthetic gene expression levels were downregulated under high (0.96 aw) and moderate (0.91 aw) water activity. The expression level of hog1 gene in OTAbZIP mutant was significantly lower than in the wild type. Pathogenicity tests revealed that deletion of OTAbZIP did not significantly affect disease infection. This study shows that deleting OTAbZIP gene greatly reduces OTA production, affecting the strain’s adaptability to water activity stress.
format Article
id doaj-art-fe6f1bd2737f429584fb11001a8f4eaf
institution DOAJ
issn 2150-1203
2150-1211
language English
publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Mycology
spelling doaj-art-fe6f1bd2737f429584fb11001a8f4eaf2025-08-20T02:50:00ZengTaylor & Francis GroupMycology2150-12032150-12112024-10-0115462063010.1080/21501203.2024.2355333Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stressYanling Ma0Mingxuan Li1Tanvir Ahmad2Yingyao Deng3Muyuan Zhuang4Guangyou Tan5Yang Liu6School of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaSchool of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaSchool of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaSchool of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaSchool of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaSchool of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaSchool of Food Science and Engineering, Foshan University/National Technical Center (Foshan) for Quality Control of Famous and Special Agricultural Products/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Food Intelligent Manufacturing, Foshan, ChinaAspergillus westerdijkiae is a major producer of ochratoxin A (OTA), a highly toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin found in various food and feed products. A. westerdijkiae produces excessive amount of OTA under various water activity (aw) conditions that occur during food and feed storage. The biosynthetic gene clusters associated with OTA production include OTAbZIP, which plays a key role in controlling mycotoxin production in response to environmental conditions. This study explored the regulation of OTA biosynthesis in A. westerdijkiae fc-1, focusing on the OTAbZIP gene’s influence under aw stress. The mycelium growth of A. westerdijkiae fc-1 wild type and OTAbZIP mutant strains increased by 40.7% and 50.5% under high water activity (0.96 aw) respectively, at 6 days post-inoculation (dpi), indicating a stress on A. westerdijkiae fc-1. While OTAbZIP mutant did not produce OTA under both high and moderate aW conditions. The wild type produced OTA and OTA biosynthetic gene expression levels were downregulated under high (0.96 aw) and moderate (0.91 aw) water activity. The expression level of hog1 gene in OTAbZIP mutant was significantly lower than in the wild type. Pathogenicity tests revealed that deletion of OTAbZIP did not significantly affect disease infection. This study shows that deleting OTAbZIP gene greatly reduces OTA production, affecting the strain’s adaptability to water activity stress.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21501203.2024.2355333OTAbZIPOTA biosynthesiswater activityAspergillus westerdijkiae fc-1pathogenicity
spellingShingle Yanling Ma
Mingxuan Li
Tanvir Ahmad
Yingyao Deng
Muyuan Zhuang
Guangyou Tan
Yang Liu
Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
Mycology
OTAbZIP
OTA biosynthesis
water activity
Aspergillus westerdijkiae fc-1
pathogenicity
title Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
title_full Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
title_fullStr Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
title_full_unstemmed Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
title_short Impact of OTAbZIP on Ochratoxin A production, mycelium growth and pathogenicity of Aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
title_sort impact of otabzip on ochratoxin a production mycelium growth and pathogenicity of aspergillus westerdijkiae under water activity stress
topic OTAbZIP
OTA biosynthesis
water activity
Aspergillus westerdijkiae fc-1
pathogenicity
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21501203.2024.2355333
work_keys_str_mv AT yanlingma impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress
AT mingxuanli impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress
AT tanvirahmad impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress
AT yingyaodeng impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress
AT muyuanzhuang impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress
AT guangyoutan impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress
AT yangliu impactofotabziponochratoxinaproductionmyceliumgrowthandpathogenicityofaspergilluswesterdijkiaeunderwateractivitystress