AUTHOR=Romsdahl Jillian , Blachowicz Adriana , Chiang Yi-Ming , Venkateswaran Kasthuri , Wang Clay C. C. 

TITLE=Metabolomic Analysis of Aspergillus niger Isolated From the International Space Station Reveals Enhanced Production Levels of the Antioxidant Pyranonigrin A

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00931

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00931

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Secondary metabolite (SM) production in <italic>Aspergillus niger</italic> JSC-093350089, isolated from the International Space Station (ISS), is reported, along with a comparison to the experimentally established strain ATCC 1015. The analysis revealed enhanced production levels of naphtho-γ-pyrones and therapeutically relevant SMs, including bicoumanigrin A, aurasperones A and B, and the antioxidant pyranonigrin A. Genetic variants that may be responsible for increased SM production levels in JSC-093350089 were identified. These findings include INDELs within the predicted promoter region of <italic>flbA</italic>, which encodes a developmental regulator that modulates pyranonigrin A production via regulation of Fum21. The pyranonigrin A biosynthetic gene cluster was confirmed in <italic>A. niger</italic>, which revealed the involvement of a previously undescribed gene, <italic>pyrE</italic>, in its biosynthesis. UVC sensitivity assays enabled characterization of pyranonigrin A as a UV resistance agent in the ISS isolate.</p>