No abstract

Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are essential nutrients for both pathogens and hosts; however, their excess accumulation is toxic for all cells. The Aspergillus transcription factor AceA has been identified having function for Cu detoxification through up-regulation of the expression of the P-type ATPase, CrpA. Here, we demonstrate that Aspergillus fumigatus CrpA is involved in both Cu and Zn detoxification and a putative metallothionein AfCrdA plays a major function in Cu detoxification, and a putative transporter AfZrcA has a dominant role in Zn detoxification, but all three members are transcriptionally dependent on AfAceA. Moreover, the Cys, RGHR, and KGRP motifs in the conserved N-terminus of AfAceA are essential, but not sufficient for AfAceA-mediated Cu and Zn tolerance. Our findings suggest that fungal pathogens have developed very precise systems with overlapping machinery to respond to the two different metal stressors. Meanwhile, there is separate specific machinery for Zn detoxification in response to high environmental Zn. Importantly, virulence testing demonstrated that the conserved Cu and Zn detoxification-related Cys residues in AfAceA have key roles in pathogenesis. Therefore, these findings will broaden the current understanding of the adaption of saprophytic fungi to Cu and Zn stress and their survival in hosts and other environmental niches.

Umami is an important element affecting food taste, and the development of umami peptides is a topic of interest in food‐flavoring research. The existing technology used for traditional screening of umami peptides is time‐consuming and labor‐intensive, making it difficult to meet the requirements of high‐throughput screening, which limits the rapid development of umami peptides. The difficulty in performing a standard measurement of umami intensity is another problem that restricts the development of umami peptides. The existing methods are not sensitive and specific, making it difficult to achieve a standard evaluation of umami taste. This review summarizes the umami receptors and umami peptides, focusing on the problems restricting the development of umami peptides, high‐throughput screening, and establishment of evaluation standards. The rapid screening of umami peptides was realized based on molecular docking technology and a machine learning method, and the standard evaluation of umami could be realized with a bionic taste sensor. The progress of rapid screening and evaluation methods significantly promotes the study of umami peptides and increases its application in the seasoning industry.

No abstract

No abstract