The genome, transcriptome and metabolome of Aspergillus welwitschiae Ocstreb1 from wild halophytic rice, Oryza coarctata, indicates its distinctiveness

Graphical Abstract The endophytic fungus Aspergillus welwitschiae Ocstreb1 (AwOcstreb1), isolated from the roots of wild halophytic rice, promotes salt-stress tolerance in commercial rice (Airin et al . Ann Microbiol 2023;73:36; Chowdhury et al . Biores Commun 2024;10:1474–1481). Its genome and transcriptome were assembled (312 contigs, 13,242 proteins), showing basal expression of 66.87% of predicted genes. Comparative genomics revealed strain-specific orthogroups and placed AwOcstreb1 in a tangled phylogenomic cluster of A. welwitschiae and Aspergillus niger . Functional annotation identified simple sequence repeats, carbohydrate-active enzymes, transposable elements including starships, mycotoxin biosynthetic genes and plant growth promotion-related genes. LC-MS/MS quantified fumonisin production, while GC-MS profiled volatile compounds.