Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 18, 2025

Quantification of Fungal Colonization, Sporogenesis, and Production of Mycotoxins Using Kernel Bioassays
Published on: April 23, 2012
Differential Retention and Loss of a Mycotoxin in Fungal Evolution
Lin Chen1, Ziying Yan2, Bolei Yang2
1Comprehensive Utilization of Edible and Medicinal Plant Resources Engineering Technology Research Center, Zhengzhou Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology of Natural Products, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou 450006, China.
Abstract:
Ochratoxin A (OTA) is designated as a mycotoxin and is regulated worldwide due to its harmful effects on humans and animals, but the evolutionary history and ecological significance of OTA in fungi remain poorly understood. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that Aspergillus and Metarhizium obtained an ancient OT cluster, which evolved independently, followed by horizontal OT transfer from Aspergillus to Penicillium. The varying presence of functional, absent and pseudogenized OT genes across Aspergillus species revealed that this cluster is undergoing a degeneration process in this genus. Furthermore, the cyclase OtaY in the OTA cluster is likely derived from bacteria, which was revealed by phylogenetic analysis. This is the first attempt to investigate the ecological significance of OTA in fungi, suggesting that it may be nonfunctional in Aspergillus spp. and has undergone multiple forms of loss during evolution.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Fungal Group Zygomycota
Overview of Fungi
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
Mismatch Repair
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
Fungal Phylum Basidiomycota
Genetic Drift

