Aspergillus flavus Genome Sequencing Project

Project Overview

Gary A. Payne and Ralph A. Dean at North Carolina State University received funding from the Microbial Genome Sequencing Project, USDA National Research Initiative to completely sequence the genome of A. flavus strain NRRL 3357 to the level of 5 fold sequence coverage. Whole genome sequencing was done at The Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, Maryland under the supervision of William Nierman. Jennifer Wortman directed the assembly and automated annotation. The USDA/ARS/SRRC in New Orleans, Louisiana provided its Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) genomic database for A. flavus as a matching resource towards the complete genomic characterization of A. flavus. They also provided funds for fine closure and finishing of the sequence. Jiujiang Yu at USDA/ARS/SRRC lead the EST sequencing program and has directed the sequencing efforts supported by the USDA/ARS.

The available genome sequence for A. flavus provides a powerful resource for research on the biology and evolution of this important plant and animal pathogen. Further, we anticipate that the sequence will reveal critical genetic processes in the fungus that could be interrupted to control aflatoxin contamination, which causes hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses during years of severe outbreaks.

Sequence Information

Sequence reads from the 5 X coverage were released to NCBI in July 2005. The annotated genome was released in October 2005 and can be accessed at this site through the genome browser button below. Manual annotation will be coordinated through North Carolina State University.

Updated annotated scaffolds were posted to GenBank by the J. Craig Venter Institute in January 2009. Statistics for the updated version are shown below.

Genome Statistics

5 X draft
2761 scaffolds
Scaffold size, 4.5 Mbp to 200bp
91% in 16 largest scaffolds
Total size just under 40Mbp
Predicted genes, 13,487
Average gene length, 1,485 bp

Genome Browser

The genome browser allows visualization of Blast matches to genes, proteins and genomic sequence of other Aspergillus species, alignments of A. flavus ESTs, and GO annotations. (BLAST matches are available for the 2005 dataset, they will be available soon for the 2009 set.)

You can also use a preliminary mock-up of A. flavus chromosomes as your starting point for investigating the genome here: A. flavus chromosomes.

BLAST search

Look for sequences with homology to the Aspergillus flavus genome

Sequence Download

Download genomic scaffolds from the NCBI website

 

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