n recent years, great progress has been made in the discovery of signaling pathways that connect fungal development with natural product biosynthesis. However, much remains to be learned. The complexity of these regulatory networks, with multiple target sites and interconnections with other regulatory mechanisms, makes their full elucidation a challenging task. Emerging technologies should be brought to bear on this puzzle. A. nidulans has a large number of mutants available to address these issues. Furthermore, most of the A. nidulans genome has been sequenced and is available (Cereon Inc.). An illuminating set of experiments could involve microarray analysis of genes involved in the G-protein signaling pathway, fatty acid metabolism (as unsaturated fatty acids influence development), acetate metabolism (acetate is derived from the catabolism of fatty acids and is the primary building block for aflatoxin and sterigmatocystin), and sterigmatocystin biosynthesis. Information obtained from the model organism A. nidulans could lead to an understanding of how these regulatory pathways directly or indirectly control fungal development and the biosynthesis of natural products in other microorganisms. This will open up new broad and exciting fields of applications in which the production of beneficial natural products could be enhanced and the production of those with deleterious effects could be reduced or eliminated.