Regulation of Growth and Molecular Morphogenesis by Uridine Monophosphate Biosynthesis in Aspergillus salvadorensis

Abstract

The biosynthesis of uridine monophosphate (UMP) represents an essential metabolic pathway in filamentous fungi, providing pyrimidine nucleotides necessary for the synthesis of DNA, RNA and various cellular metabolites. In Aspergillus salvadorensis, this pathway plays a central role not only in replication and gene expression, but also in the regulation of growth, differentiation, and morphogenesis. In this study, a bioinformatics analysis of a genomic sequence of approximately 23 kb was performed, using open reading frame prediction tools (ORFs) and functional databases such as KEGG, MetaCyc and EggNOG, with the aim of identifying genes associated with the UMP biosynthesis I, II and III pathways. The results showed a high density of ORFs, including regions with similarity to pyrE and pyrG genes, encoding key enzymes such as orotate phosphoribosyltransferase and orotidine-5'-phosphate decarboxylase. Likewise, the presence of the three metabolic pathways of UMP synthesis, both de novo and rescue, supported by relevant functional annotations (PWY-7790, PWY-7791 and PWY-5686) was identified. The organization into possible gene clusters and the presence of regulatory elements suggest a coordinated control of gene expression. Also noteworthy is an ORF (ORF190) with structural characteristics compatible with active metabolic enzymes. These findings indicate that Aspergillus salvadorensis has complete and functional machinery for the biosynthesis of UMP, which favors its growth, reproduction and adaptation to variable environmental conditions, consolidating this pathway as a key metabolic axis in its physiology.