Variation of a conserved region in the nitrate reductase gene(NIAD) of selected aspergillus species

College

College of Science

Department/Unit

Biology

Document Type

Archival Material/Manuscript

Publication Date

1-5-2010

Abstract

Nitrate reductase is a NADH-dependent redox enzyme that is important for nitrate assimilation, together with nitrite reductase. Recent studies have shown that nitrate reductase plays a major role in the biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles through reduction of the metal salt, such as silver nitrate. This research is interested in optimizing the selection of fungi for use in biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles. It is possible that species with the same of minor differences in the niaD sequence may produce similar nanoparticles. A portion of the nitrate reductase gene niaD was amplified from Aspergillus oryzae, A. flavus, A. niger, and A. versicolor obtained from the University of the Philippines Culture Collections. The forward and reverse primers as described by Kitamoto et al (1995) were used, with primers being regarded as conserved for the genus. Of the fungi tested, A. niger did not amplify successfully. The analysis and alignment of the sequences showed large (translated to at least 45 amino acids) differences between any pair of species. Phylogeny analysis using the amplified sequence and homologous sequences of other Aspergillus species showed inconsistencies in distance between the same species. It is therefore recommended that all four species be used in nanoparticle synthesis, as the activity of nitrate reductase can be different in all of these.

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Disciplines

Biology

Note

Special problems in genetics

Keywords

Aspergillus; Nitrate

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