Transcriptome profiling of spt7 knockout mutant in Aspergillus niger

Aspergillus niger is an important industrial filamentous fungus widely used for citric acid and enzyme production. The Spt7 protein is a core subunit of the SAGA (Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase) coactivator complex, which plays a crucial role in transcriptional regulation.In this study, we constructed spt7 deletion mutants in A. niger. These mutants exhibited slow growth, severe conidiation defects, and reduced antioxidant capacity compared to wild-type strains.To investigate the molecular mechanisms, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on mycelium samples from spt7 knockout mutants and wild-type controls. Transcriptome analysis revealed significantly downregulated genes enriched in pathways related to glycolysis, cell wall formation, mycelial growth, and conidiophore development.These data demonstrate that Spt7 is essential for maintaining the integrity of the SAGA complex and for the proper transcription of genes involved in fungal development and metabolism.