Abstract

Recent advances in the discovery of novel natural pigments have spurred increasing research interest in Penicillium and Talaromyces species . In this study, we investigated the effects of exogenous farnesol on Talaromyces sp. LRS407, a strain isolated from traditional fermented vinegar mash. Our results demonstrated that exogenous farnesol inhibited spore germination and production, reduced biomass yield, and induced shortened septum distance with hyper-branching phenotypes. Intriguingly, farnesol treatment also upregulated red pigment biosynthesis alongside increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, as well as activation of ribotoxic quality control (RQC) and the unfolded protein response (UPR). These findings suggest that farnesol regulates fungal growth and pigmentation through the ROS-mediated RQC and UPR signaling pathways. This provides new insights into farnesol signaling in fungal physiology and natural food pigment production in Talaromyces .