Transcriptome analysis of zones of colonies of the ΔflbA strain of Aspergillus niger

Gene expression was studied at the periphery, an intermediate zone, and the centre of wild-type and ∆flbA colonies using Affymetrix A. niger whole genome microarrays. We used Affymetrix GeneChip A. niger Geome Arrays and identifed up- and down-regulated genes that may account for the differences between wild-type and ΔflbA colonies. RNA was isolated from a biological duplicate of concentric zones of 7-day old wildtype and mutant colonies. Zone 1 represented the most central zone, zone 3 an intermediate zone, and zone 5 the peripheral zone. Mycelium of the distinct zones was harvested from three colonies.