Aflatoxins and anthraquinones from diploids of Aspergillus parasiticus.

Three spore colour, two mycelial colour and 12 auxotrophic mutants were isolated from an aflatoxigenic strain of Aspergillus parasiticus. These mutants and heterozygous diploids formed by pairwise combinations of auxotrophs were assayed for aflatoxin production; norsolorinic acid and versicolorin A production were also assayed in the diploids. In general, introduction of an auxotrophic marker lowered aflatoxin production in haploids. The green-spored, prototrophic diploids resembled haploid wild-type strains in that they produced high levels of aflatoxin, low levels of versicolorin A, and no detectable norsolorinic acid. Parasexual analysis of segregants from four heterozygous diploids was hampered by the uniform conidiospore diameter of haploids and diploids and by the non-random recovery of genotypes among somatic segregants with and without treatment with p-fluorophenylalanine. Nevertheless, this technique is useful for recombinational analysis of mutants blocked in aflatoxin synthesis. The fortuitous association of mycelial pigmentation with certain blocked aflatoxin mutants should prove useful in future analyses of the genetics and biosynthesis of these economically important secondary metabolites.