Decanal effects on gene expression in fungal development and metabolism

To better understand plant volatile-Aspergillus flavus interactions, we used RNA-Seq analysis to examine how decanal treatment affected genome-wide gene expression in an S strain A. flavus isolate. We compared transcriptomic profiles representing various developmental stages of Potato dextrose agar surface cultures for samples; control, treated with decanal, and after recovery from treatment. We also determined, in a separate sample, the RNA population of mature sclerotia. Using the gene ontology-based approach, we found that the decanal treatment mostly affected oxidoreductase activity and cellular components of the cell wall. We also analyzed how decanal affected expression of genes involved in conidiation, sclerotial development, and secondary metabolite production specifically on aflatoxin and kojic acid.