Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Characterization Of Experimentally Induced, Nonaflatoxigenic Variant Strains Of Aspergillus Parasiticus., Shubha Kale Ireland, J. W. Cary, D. Bhatnagar, J. W. Bennett

Faculty and Staff Publications

Six previously isolated, nonaflatoxigenic variants of Aspergillus parasiticus, designated sec mutants, were characterized morphologically by electron microscopy, biochemically by biotransformation studies with an aflatoxin precursor, and genetically by Northern (RNA) hybridization analysis of aflatoxin biosynthetic gene transcripts. Scanning electron micrographs clearly demonstrated that compared with the parental sec+ forms, the variant sec forms had an abundance of vegetative mycelia, orders of magnitude reduced number of conidiophores and conidia, and abnormal metulae. Conidiospores were detected in sec cultures only at higher magnifications (x500), in contrast to the sec+ (wild-type) strain, in which abundant conidiospores (masking the vegetative mycelia) were observed even …