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Monascuspigments (Mps) have been used as food colorants for several centuries in Asian countries. MptriAis a putative acetyltransferase gene involved in the MPs biosynthesis. To analyze the function of MptriA, an MptriAdisruption strain (ΔMptriA) and a complementation strain (ΔMptriA::MptriA) were successfully obtained In addition to the loss of color, the disruption of MptriAhad little effect on the phenotypes during growth on four different media. The ΔMptriAstrain showed decreased pigment and citrinin production during the liquid-fermentation process. Transcriptional analysis showed that the expression of several genes involved in the synthesis of pigments and citrinin was down-regulated in ΔMptriA. These results demonstrated that the role of MptriAwas to transfer an acyl group to the pyranoquinone structure of the polyketide chromophore during Monascuspigment biosynthesis and to influence the citrinin biosynthesis pathway. This study contributes to the exploration of pigment biosynthesis in M. purpureus.