Kojic acid biosynthesis in Aspergillus oryzae is regulated by a Zn(II)2Cys6 transcriptional activator and induced by kojic acid at the transcriptional level

A gene encoding the Zn(II)2Cys6 transcriptional factor is clustered with two genes involved in biosynthesis of a secondary metabolite, kojic acid (KA), in Aspergillus oryzae. We determined that the gene was essential for KA production and the transcriptional activation of KA biosynthetic genes, which were triggered by the addition of KA.