Welcome to the Carbone lab

A major focus of our research is understanding the evolution of aflatoxigenicity. Aflatoxin is one of the most carcinogenic compounds known and is responsible for major yield losses in oil seed crops worldwide. The evolutionary processes that modulate aflatoxin biosynthesis in nature are poorly understood. Currently, we are acquiring basic knowledge on the evolution of the aflatoxin gene cluster in populations of two agriculturally important aflatoxin-producing species, Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus. Our goal is to apply our knowledge of the evolutionary processes that influence aflatoxigenicity in natural populations of these species to the development of novel biocontrol measures, ultimately fine-tuning these control strategies using our knowledge of the population genetic structure of these fungi.

We are examining the evolution of fungal secondary metabolism focusing on the sterigmatocystin (ST), O-methylsterigmatocystin (OMST) and aflatoxin (AF) biosynthetic pathway in Aspergillus. The genes for ST, OMST, and AF are clustered and these compounds are synthesized as end products by numerous ascomycetes. Although all three metabolites (ST, OMST, and AF) are potent carcinogens in animals, the biological and evolutionary significance of these bioreactive compounds in fungi is unknown. We are combining inferences from macro- and micro-evolutionary analyses to understand the conservation of these metabolites among Aspergillus species and how diversity is generated and maintained within species over long periods of time and contemporary time scales.