Recent discovery shows that A. flavus has a sexual state. Will this affect future strategies to control A. flavus biologically? If yes, what are some of the effects?
The presence of a sexual state stimulates re-assortment of genetic characters. This can be triggered under adverse environments as a way of generate new genetic recombinations that can adapt to a changing environment. Aspergillus has para-sexual mechanisms and this may generate new combination without the investment in sexuality. Since fungi have gone from original sexual only to alternated gender expressions and in the final stage no sexuality indicated by absence of sexual stages and states. This suggests an evolutionary cost which the organism will avoid when and if it can by eliminating sexuality and moving parasexual mechanisms to foster recombinations needed for their survival in fluctuating environments.
So in a long way I say yes the A. flavus sexual state can and does affect its evolution and this may promote favorable adaptation.
As an example if low level of benomyl fungicide were applied it may very well stimulate a triggering of the sexual states and the ascospore recombinants might very well be more resistant to benomyl favoring the continued survival of the Aspergillus through it Eurotium state. For a researcher this character could then be a label to tag the way the developed organism spreads in the environment of interest as say an epidemiological tool.