ord1, an oxidoreductase gene responsible for conversion of O-methylsterigmatocystin to aflatoxin in Aspergillus flavus.

Among the enzymatic steps in the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway, the conversion of O-methylsterigmatocystin to aflatoxin has been proposed to be catalyzed by an oxidoreductase. Transformants of Aspergillus flavus 649WAF2 containing a 3.3-kb genomic DNA fragment and the aflatoxin biosynthesis regulatory gene aflR converted exogenously supplied O-methylsterigmatocystin to aflatoxin B1. A gene, ord1, corresponding to a transcript of about 2 kb was identified within the 3.3-kb DNA fragment. The promoter region presented a putative AFLR binding site and a TATA sequence. The nucleotide sequence of the gene revealed an open reading frame encoding a protein of 528 amino acids with a deduced molecular mass of 60.2 kDa. The gene contained six introns and seven exons. Heterologous expression of the ord1 open reading frame under the transcriptional control of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae galactose-inducible gal1 promoter results in the ability to convert O-methylsterigmatocystin to aflatoxin B1. The data indicate that ord1 is sufficient to accomplish the last step of the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway. A search of various databases for similarity indicated that ord1 encodes a cytochrome P-450-type monooxygenase, and the gene has been assigned to a new P-450 gene family named CYP64.