RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Shi, Deng-Ke A1 Zhu, Jing A1 Sun, Ze-Hua A1 Zhang, Guang A1 Liu, Rui A1 Zhang, Tian-Jun A1 Wang, Sheng-Li A1 Ren, Ang A1 Zhao, Ming-WenYR 2017 T1 Alternative oxidase impacts ganoderic acid biosynthesis by regulating intracellular ROS levels in Ganoderma lucidum JF Microbiology, VO 163 IS 10 SP 1466 OP 1476 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000527 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2080, AB The alternative oxidase (AOX), which forms a branch of the mitochondrial respiratory electron transport pathway, functions to sustain electron flux and alleviate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In this article, a homologous AOX gene was identified in Ganoderma lucidum. The coding sequence of the AOX gene in G. lucidum contains 1038 nucleotides and encodes a protein of 39.48 kDa. RNA interference (RNAi) was used to study the function of AOX in G. lucidum, and two silenced strains (AOXi6 and AOXi21) were obtained, showing significant decreases of approximately 60 and 50 %, respectively, in alternative pathway respiratory efficiency compared to WT. The content of ganoderic acid (GA) in the mutant strains AOXi6 and AOXi21 showed significant increases of approximately 42 and 44 %, respectively, compared to WT. Elevated contents of intermediate metabolites in GA biosynthesis and elevated transcription levels of corresponding genes were also observed in the mutant strains AOXi6 and AOXi21. In addition, the intracellular ROS content in strains AOXi6 and AOXi21 was significantly increased, by approximately 1.75- and 1.93-fold, respectively, compared with WT. Furthermore, adding N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), a ROS scavenger, significantly depressed the intracellular ROS content and GA accumulation in AOX-silenced strains. These results indicate that AOX affects GA biosynthesis by regulating intracellular ROS levels. Our research revealed the important role of AOX in the secondary metabolism of G. lucidum., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000527