Eukaryotes have evolved highly conserved vesicle transport machinery to deliver proteins to the vacuole. In this study we show that the filamentous fungus Aspergillus parasiticus employs this delivery system to perform new cellular functions, the synthesis, compartmentalization, and export of aflatoxin; this secondary metabolite is one of the most potent naturally occurring carcinogens known. Here we show that a highly pure vesicle-vacuole fraction isolated from A. parasiticus under aflatoxin-inducing conditions converts sterigmatocystin, a late intermediate in aflatoxin synthesis, to aflatoxin B 1 ; these organelles also compartmentalize aflatoxin. The role of vesicles in aflatoxin biosynthesis and export was confirmed by blocking vesicle-vacuole fusion using 2 independent approaches. Disruption of A. parasiticus vb1 (encodes a protein homolog of AvaA, a small GTPase known to regulate vesicle fusion in A. nidulans) or treatment with Sortin3 (blocks Vps16 function, one protein in the class C tethering complex) increased aflatoxin synthesis and export but did not affect aflatoxin gene expression, demonstrating that vesicles and not vacuoles are primarily involved in toxin synthesis and export. We also observed that development of aflatoxigenic vesicles (aflatoxisomes) is strongly enhanced under aflatoxin-inducing growth conditions. Coordination of aflatoxisome development with aflatoxin gene expression is at least in part mediated by Velvet (VeA), a global regulator of Aspergillus secondary metabolism. We propose a unique 2-branch model to illustrate the proposed role for VeA in regulation of aflatoxisome development and aflatoxin gene expression.S econdary metabolites, natural products generated by filamentous fungi, plants, bacteria, algae, and animals, have an enormous impact on humans due to their application in health, medicine, and agriculture. Many secondary metabolites are beneficial (antibiotics, statins, morphine, etc.), though phytotoxins (e.g., ricin, crotin, amygdalin) and fungal poisons called mycotoxins (e.g., aflatoxin, sterigmatocystin, fumonisin) are detrimental to humans and animals. To control or customize biosynthesis of these natural products we must understand how and where secondary metabolism is orchestrated within the cell.Vacuoles and vesicles are known to sequester secondary metabolites to protect host cells from self-toxicity (1). Enzymes involved in secondary metabolism are often found in vesicles and vacuoles, including those for biosynthesis of alkaloids (e.g., berberine, sanguinarine, camptotecin, and morphine; reviewed in refs. 1 and 2) and flavonoids (e.g., aurone) (reviewed in refs. 1 and 3) in plants and the nonribosomal peptide cyclosporin (4), the ␤-lactam antibiotic penicillin (5) (localization of ACVS is still controversial), and the polyketide aflatoxin (6-8) in fungi. However, the functional role of these compartments in secondary metabolism was unclear because these organelles potentially could be involved in synthesis, storage, protein turnover, transport, or export of...

In filamentous fungi, several lines of experimental evidence indicate that secondary metabolism is triggered by oxidative stress; however, the functional and molecular mechanisms that mediate this association are unclear. The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor AtfB, a member of the bZIP/CREB family, helps regulate conidial tolerance to oxidative stress. In this work, we investigated the role of AtfB in the connection between oxidative stress response and secondary metabolism in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus parasiticus. This well characterized model organism synthesizes the secondary metabolite and carcinogen aflatoxin. Cellular response to oxidative stress in vertebrates, plants, and fungi is of fundamental importance; it enables the cell to survive a variety of extra-and intracellular oxidative stressors. An uncontrolled increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) 4 in mammalian cells is associated with various pathological conditions such as inflammation and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, including hypertension, atherosclerosis, Parkinson disease, and Alzheimer disease; oxidative stress is also linked to premature aging and cancer (1-10). A detailed understanding of the regulatory network that coordinates the cellular response to oxidative stress will enable better control over its detrimental impacts on humans.As a part of the response to oxidative stress, transcription factors activated directly or indirectly by ROS bind to the promoters of specific genes that trigger defense and signaling related activities. In mammalian cells, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, and yeast, response to oxidative stress is mediated by an evolutionarily conserved bZIP transcription factor Nrf2 that binds as a heterodimer with Maf or ATF4 to antioxidantresponse elements in the promoters of more than 200 mammalian genes (11-16). Signaling pathways that involve PKC, PI3K, and MAPK participate in Nrf2 activation under ROS exposure. In Arabidopsis, 175 genes were demonstrated to be regulated by hydrogen peroxide, including genes with MYB and AP-1-response elements (17). 140 core stress-related genes were identified in Schizosaccharomyces pombe (18,19).Filamentous fungi in the genus Aspergillus must cope with ROS during their growth and development. Genetic and biochemical studies shed light on the role of ROS in fungal defense, pathogenicity, and development and suggest that fungi use similar stress response pathways as mammalian and plant cells (20 -24). The transcription factors AP-1, AtfA, and AtfB (all members of the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor family) have been identified as major players in providing conidia with resistance to oxidative stress in aspergilli. Saccharomyces cerevisiae yap-1 is an ortholog of mammalian AP-1 (25-27). A yap-1 ortholog in Aspergillus parasiticus (ApyapA) is reported to regulate the timing of ROS accumulation, conidiospore development, and stress tolerance in conidiospores (26,27). AtfA, an ortholog of S. pombe Atf1, controls conidial respon...

Aflatoxins are among the principal mycotoxins that contaminate economically important food and feed crops. Aflatoxin B1 is the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen known and is also an immunosuppressant. Occurrence of aflatoxins in crops has vast economic and human health impacts worldwide. Thus, the study of aflatoxin biosynthesis has become a focal point in attempts to reduce human exposure to aflatoxins. This review highlights recent advances in the field of aflatoxin biosynthesis and explores the functional connection between aflatoxin biosynthesis, endomembrane trafficking, and response to oxidative stress. Dissection of the regulatory mechanisms involves a complete comprehension of the aflatoxin biosynthetic process and the dynamic network of transcription factors that orchestrates coordinated expression of the target genes. Despite advancements in the field, development of a safe and effective multifaceted approach to solve the aflatoxin food contamination problem is still required.

Great progress has been made in understanding the regulation of expression of genes involved in secondary metabolism. Less is known about the mechanisms that govern the spatial distribution of the enzymes, cofactors, and substrates that mediate catalysis of secondary metabolites within the cell. Filamentous fungi in the genus Aspergillus synthesize an array of secondary metabolites and provide useful systems to analyze the mechanisms that mediate the temporal and spatial regulation of secondary metabolism in eukaryotes. For example, aflatoxin biosynthesis in A. parasiticus has been studied intensively because this mycotoxin is highly toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic in humans and animals. Using aflatoxin synthesis to illustrate key concepts, this review focuses on the mechanisms by which sub-cellular compartmentalization and intra-cellular molecular traffic contribute to the initiation and completion of secondary metabolism within the cell. We discuss the recent discovery of aflatoxisomes, specialized trafficking vesicles that participate in the compartmentalization of aflatoxin synthesis and export of the toxin to the cell exterior; this work provides a new and clearer understanding of how cells integrate secondary metabolism into basic cellular metabolism via the intracellular trafficking machinery.

There is extensive and unequivocal evidence that secondary metabolism in filamentous fungi and plants is associated with oxidative stress. In support of this idea, transcription factors related to oxidative stress response in yeast, plants, and fungi have been shown to participate in controlling secondary metabolism. Aflatoxin biosynthesis, one model of secondary metabolism, has been demonstrated to be triggered and intensified by reactive oxygen species buildup. An oxidative stress-related bZIP transcription factor AtfB is a key player in coordinate expression of antioxidant genes and genes involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis. Recent findings from our laboratory provide strong support for a regulatory network comprised of at least four transcription factors that bind in a highly coordinated and timely manner to promoters of the target genes and regulate their expression. In this review, we will focus on transcription factors involved in co-regulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis with oxidative stress response in aspergilli, and we will discuss the relationship of known oxidative stress-associated transcription factors and secondary metabolism in other organisms. We will also talk about transcription factors that are involved in oxidative stress response, but have not yet been demonstrated to be affiliated with secondary metabolism. The data support the notion that secondary metabolism provides a secondary line of defense in cellular response to oxidative stress.