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Updated: Oct 21, 2026

Single-Step Enrichment of a TAP-Tagged Histone Deacetylase of the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans for Enzymatic Activity Assay
Published on: May 1, 2019
A simplified Hda1 HDAC complex globally regulates development, colonization and secondary metabolism in the
Yibing Liu1, Xinglu Zhang2, Yafan Hu2
1Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality and Safety Control in Storage and Transport Process, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China; College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
Abstract:
Aspergillus westerdijkiae is a major postharvest fungus and an important producer of ochratoxin A (OTA), yet the roles of histone deacetylase (HDAC) complexes in its development, colonization, and OTA biosynthesis remain unclear. Here, our analyses support a simplified Hda1 class II HDAC complex comprising the catalytic subunit AwHda1 and the auxiliary subunit AwHda2-3. Deletion of AwHda1 caused pronounced impairments in vegetative growth, conidiation, and sclerotial formation, whereas deletion of AwHda2-3 left basal growth largely intact but reduced conidiation and sclerotial formation, with an approximately 87% reduction in sclerotial number. Both mutants showed markedly reduced OTA biosynthesis, by up to 99.35%, and significantly reduced colonization capacity on pear (Pyrus bretschneideri 'Huangguan'). Multi-omics profiling revealed broad transcriptional and metabolic remodeling, particularly in ΔAwHda1, including repression of ribosomal genes, decreased cellular ATP, reduced abscisic acid (ABA) levels, and downregulation of LaeA and components of the FluG/Flb-BrlA developmental cascade. Collectively, these findings support a simplified AwHda1-AwHda2-3 complex in A. westerdijkiae and reveal distinct but overlapping contributions of its catalytic and auxiliary subunits to fungal development, postharvest colonization, and OTA biosynthesis, accompanied by broad transcriptional and metabolic changes.
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