Aspergillus parasiticus strain:PWE36 Genome sequencing

The sequenced PWE36 strain was isolated from Pistachio Winter Experiment (PWE), University of California, Davis, California, USA. It produces aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 (Ref#1). Colony morphology and conidial surface texture of PWE36 resemble to those of A. sojae and A. parasiticus. PWE36 has an identical six-base insertion, CTCATG, present in the aflatoxin pathway-specific regulatory gene (aflR) of A. sojae, but it does not have the pre-termination codon TGA found at positions 1153–1155 of aflR and produce aflatoxins. The genome sequence of this strain will provide valuable insight into domestication of A. sojae and evolutionary divergence of A. parasiticus.