Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is one of the most widely grown food legumes in the world, being valued for its high protein and unsaturated oil contents. Drought stress is one of the major constraints that limit peanut production. This study’s objective was to identify the drought-responsive genes preferentially expressed under drought stress in different peanut genotypes.

Wang, X. et al. “Transcriptome Profile Reveals Drought-Induced Genes Preferentially Expressed in Response to Water Deficit in Cultivated Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)” Front Plant Sci. 2021; 12:645291. doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.645291

In an effort to identify targets to mitigate aflatoxin-related crop loss and human exposure to aflatoxin, the research team created reference genomes of two Aspergillus flavus strains: a moderately stress tolerant strain with average aflatoxin production, and a highly stress tolerant strain with high aflatoxin production. Through analysis of the genomes, they identified a large gene insertion in the stress tolerant strain that contains extra genes, including a novel version of a transcription factor that controls the oxidative stress response pathway and aflatoxin biosynthesis.

Fountain, JC, Clevenger, JP, Nadon, B. et al. “Two New Aspergillus flavus Reference Genomes Reveal a Large Insertion Potentially Contributing to Isolate Stress Tolerance and Aflatoxin Production, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, Volume 10, Issue 10, 1 October 2020, Pages 3515–3531, https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.120.401405

Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus produce carcinogenic aflatoxins during crop infection, with extensive variations in production among isolates, ranging from atoxigenic to highly toxigenic. This manuscript reports draft genome sequences of one A. parasiticus isolate and nine A. flavus isolates from field environments for use in comparative, functional, and phylogenetic studies.

Fountain, JC, Clevenger, JP, Nadon, B. et al. “Draft Genome Sequences of One Aspergillus parasiticus Isolate and Nine Aspergillus flavus Isolates with Varying Stress Tolerance and Aflatoxin Production” Microbiol Resour Announc 9:e00478-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.00478-20