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                                             BIOINFORMATICS COLLOQUIUM
						College of Science
                                              George Mason University
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		                 Comparative genomic analysis of filamentous fungi
						 
                                                Natalie Fedorova


Abstract:
Aspergillus is an extremely diverse and widely distributed genus of
filamentous ascomycetous fungi found ubiquitously in soil as well as in
forage products, food, dust, organic debris, and decomposing vegetation.
Comparative genomic analyses of the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus
fumigatus and closely related non-pathogenic Aspergillus species
revealed that the genomes contain a highly syntenic orthologous core and
large species-specific accessory components. The core and accessory
genes differ in their chromosomal location, nucleotide content, phyletic
distribution, evolutionary histories, and biological functions. The
former tend to function in information processing, primary metabolism,
and virulence, while the latter encode many accessory functions
including secondary metabolite biosynthesis and detoxification or efflux
of xenobiotics. The findings highlight the multifactorial nature of A.
fumigatus virulence as well as the plasticity of genome organization in
aspergilli, which may be critical for survival in heterogeneous
environments such as soil, compost, or the human host.