Genome sequences of Aspergillus flavus strains isolated from rice-drying facilities in Japan

Abstract

  Japan relies heavily on imports of food and animal feed. Although it is important to understand the increased risk of aflatoxin (AF) contamination in imported foods and agricultural products, it is also necessary to confront the risk of domestic AF contamination caused by recent climate change. However, the accumulation of information regarding AF-producing fungi in Japan is still in the developmental stage. In this study, four sets of draft genome data are reported for Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) that was isolated from residues in domestic rice-drying facilities. Of the four A. flavus strains, three were identified as AF-producing. The remaining non-AF-producing strain had a unique amino acid sequence resulting in the aberrant translation of AflR, which is predicted to inhibit AF synthesis. The three AF-producing strains also exhibited distinct AflR amino acid sequences, confirming the genetic diversity of the domestic strains. Although differences that would allow the identification of AF-producing strains were not confirmed in this study, the use of genome datasets will contribute to preventing AF contamination in domestic agricultural prod- ucts.