Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun;73(6):410-413.
doi: 10.1038/s41429-020-0286-5. Epub 2020 Feb 14.

Epigenetic modulation of secondary metabolite profiles in Aspergillus calidoustus and Aspergillus westerdijkiae through histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition by vorinostat

Mohammed Aldholmi  1   2 , Barrie Wilkinson  3 , A Ganesan  4
Affiliations

Epigenetic modulation of secondary metabolite profiles in Aspergillus calidoustus and Aspergillus westerdijkiae through histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition by vorinostat

Mohammed Aldholmi et al. J Antibiot (Tokyo). 2020 Jun.

Abstract

The effects of epigenetic modulation on secondary metabolite biosynthesis were investigated with five Aspergillus species cultured in the presence of either the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-azacitidine or the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat. With Aspergillus calidoustus and Aspergillus westerdijkiae, fermentation in the presence of vorinostat (100 μM) induced significant changes in secondary metabolite profile with examples of both induction and repression. We identified putative biosynthetic gene clusters for emericellamide in A. calidoustus and ochratoxin in A. westerdijkiae. A substantial induction in production levels was observed for two secondary metabolites: the diketopiperazine alkaloid phenylahistin in A. calidoustus and the polyketide penicillic acid in A. westerdijkiae, indicating the potential of epigenetic regulation for the activation of silent fungal biosynthetic pathways.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Zhang X, Hindra, Elliot MA. Unlocking the trove of metabolic treasures: activating silent biosynthetic gene clusters in bacteria and fungi. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2019;51:9–15. - DOI
    1. Pfannenstiel BT, Keller NP. On top of biosynthetic gene clusters: how epigenetic machinery influences secondary metabolism in fungi. Biotechnol Adv. 2019;37:107345. - DOI
    1. Ganesan A. Epigenetic drug discovery: a success story for cofactor interference. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci. 2018;373:20170069. - DOI
    1. Shwab EK, et al. Histone deacetylase activity regulates chemical diversity in Aspergillus. Eukaryot Cell. 2007;6:1656–64. - DOI
    1. Fisch KM, et al. Chemical induction of silent biosynthetic pathway transcription in Aspergillus niger. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol. 2009;36:1199–213. - DOI

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources