Aspergillus flavus SUMO Contributes to Fungal Virulence and Toxin Attributes

Abstract

Small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) can be reversibly attached to target proteins in a process known as SUMOylation, and this process influences several important eukaryotic cell events. However, little is known regarding SUMO or SUMOylation in Aspergillus flavus. Here, we identified a novel member of the SUMO family in A. flavus, AfSumO, and validated the existence of SUMOylation in this pathogenic filamentous fungus. We investigated the roles of AfsumO in A. flavus by determining the effects of AfsumO mutations on the growth phenotype, stress response, conidia and sclerotia production, aflatoxin biosynthesis, and pathogenicity to seeds, and we found that SUMOylation plays a role in fungal virulence and toxin attributes. Taken together, these results not only reveal potential mechanisms of fungal virulence and toxin attributes in A. flavus but also provide a novel approach for promising new control strategies of this fungal pathogen.

Keywords: AfsumO; Aspergillus flavus; SUMOylation; aflatoxin; morphogenesis; pathogenicity.