Genomic Analysis of Aspergillus Section Terrei Reveals a High Potential in Secondary Metabolite Production and Plant Biomass Degradation

Abstract

Aspergillus terreus has attracted interest due to its application in industrial biotechnology, particularly for the production of itaconic acid and bioactive secondary metabolites. As related species also seem to possess a prosperous secondary metabolism, they are of high interest for genome mining and exploitation. Here, we present draft genome sequences for six species from Aspergillus section Terrei and one species from Aspergillus section Nidulantes. Whole-genome phylogeny confirmed that section Terrei is monophyletic. Genome analyses identified between 70 and 108 key secondary metabolism genes in each of the genomes of section Terrei, the highest rate found in the genus Aspergillus so far. The respective enzymes fall into 167 distinct families with most of them corresponding to potentially unique compounds or compound families. Moreover, 53% of the families were only found in a single species, which supports the suitability of species from section Terrei for further genome mining. Intriguingly, this analysis, combined with heterologous gene expression and metabolite identification, suggested that species from section Terrei use a strategy for UV protection different to other species from the genus Aspergillus. Section Terrei contains a complete plant polysaccharide degrading potential and an even higher cellulolytic potential than other Aspergilli, possibly facilitating additional applications for these species in biotechnology.