| WARF: P02379US |  |
| A Global Regulator of Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis in Fungi |
| INVENTORS | • | Nancy Keller, Jin Woo Bok |
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in developing a global regulator of secondary metabolism, called LaeA, in fungi.
OVERVIEW
Secondary metabolites display a broad range of activities, including antibiotic, immunosuppressant, phytotoxic and mycotoxic activities, yet they are formed from a relatively small number of metabolic pathways.
THE INVENTION
UW-Madison researchers have developed a global regulator of secondary metabolism, called LaeA, in fungi. LaeA was identified in the fungus Aspergillus nidulans and subsequently in A. fumigatus. LaeA exerts global control over gene clusters for secondary metabolite biosynthesis, including the penicillin and lovastatin clusters. The researchers developed methods for increasing or decreasing the production of secondary metabolites in transformed organisms by modulating the expression of laeA in these organisms. For example, overexpression of the gene laeA greatly increases penicillin production in A. nidulans and lovastatin production in A. terreus. Deletion of laeA in A. fumigatus eliminates the production of gliotoxin and other secondary metabolites, and decreases the virulence of this human pathogen.
LaeA could also provide a novel tool for identifying new secondary metabolites. For example, microarray analysis of deletion and overexpression in laeA mutants has identified several secondary metabolite gene clusters in A. nidulans.
APPLICATIONS
- Increasing the production of important secondary metabolites such as penicillin and lovastatin
- Identifying toxic metabolites of pathogenic fungi
KEY BENEFITS
- Aids in identifying currently unknown secondary metabolite biosynthesis gene clusters in a variety of fungi
- May lead to improved strains of engineered organisms
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For More Information About the Inventors
Intellectual Property Status
Tech Fields
Drug Discovery - Drug production & design
CONTACT INFORMATION
For current licensing status, please contact our team at
licensing@warf.org
or phone 608.262.4924. (Clicking this link will open a contact form in a popup window. If you have problems viewing the form, try disabling your popup blocker software.)
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