Endosome motility controls light-responsive reproductive development and secondary metabolite production in Aspergillus.

Disruption of endosome motility in Aspergillus nidulans reduces secondary metabolite production and shifts reproductive strategies, notably decreasing carcinogenic sterigmatocystin levels.

• Why it matters: Understanding how organelle transport influences fungal development and toxin synthesis is crucial for controlling pathogenic fungi and preventing food contamination by harmful metabolites.
• What they did: Researchers used gene deletions and RNA sequencing to study the effects of impaired endosome motility and peroxisome hitchhiking on gene expression, development, and metabolite biosynthesis in A. nidulans and A. fumigatus.
• The result: Loss of endosome motility altered developmental responses to light, suppressed secondary metabolite production including sterigmatocystin, and suggests targeting organelle transport could mitigate fungal toxicity and pathogenicity.