Dataset Information

Gene cluster conservation identifies melanin and perylenequinone biosynthesis pathways in multiple plant pathogenic fungi.

ABSTRACT: Perylenequinones are a family of structurally related polyketide fungal toxins with nearly universal toxicity. These photosensitizing compounds absorb light energy which enables them to generate reactive oxygen species that damage host cells. This potent mechanism serves as an effective weapon for plant pathogens in disease or niche establishment. The sugar beet pathogen Cercospora beticola secretes the perylenequinone cercosporin during infection. We have shown recently that the cercosporin toxin biosynthesis (CTB) gene cluster is present in several other phytopathogenic fungi, prompting the search for biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) of structurally similar perylenequinones in other fungi. Here, we report the identification of the elsinochrome and phleichrome BGCs of Elsinoë fawcettii and Cladosporium phlei, respectively, based on gene cluster conservation with the CTB and hypocrellin BGCs. Furthermore, we show that previously reported BGCs for elsinochrome and phleichrome are involved in melanin production. Phylogenetic analysis of the corresponding melanin polyketide synthases (PKSs) and alignment of melanin BGCs revealed high conservation between the established and newly identified C. beticola, E. fawcettii and C. phlei melanin BGCs. Mutagenesis of the identified perylenequinone and melanin PKSs in C. beticola and E. fawcettii coupled with mass spectrometric metabolite analyses confirmed their roles in toxin and melanin production.

SUBMITTER: Ebert MK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7379194 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Gene cluster conservation identifies melanin and perylenequinone biosynthesis pathways in multiple plant pathogenic fungi.

Ebert Malaika K MK Spanner Rebecca E RE de Jonge Ronnie R Smith David J DJ Holthusen Jason J Secor Gary A GA Thomma Bart P H J BPHJ Bolton Melvin D MD

Environmental microbiology 20181219 3

Perylenequinones are a family of structurally related polyketide fungal toxins with nearly universal toxicity. These photosensitizing compounds absorb light energy which enables them to generate reactive oxygen species that damage host cells. This potent mechanism serves as an effective weapon for plant pathogens in disease or niche establishment. The sugar beet pathogen Cercospora beticola secretes the perylenequinone cercosporin during infection. We have shown recently that the cercosporin tox ...[more]

PMID: 30421572

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND: The discovery and development of novel plant cell wall degrading enzymes is a key step towards more efficient depolymerization of polysaccharides to fermentable sugars for the production of liquid transportation biofuels and other bioproducts. The industrial fungus Trichoderma reesei is known to be highly cellulolytic and is a major industrial microbial source for commercial cellulases, xylanases and other cell wall degrading enzymes. However, enzyme-prospecting research continues to identify opportunities to enhance the activity of T. reesei enzyme preparations by supplementing with enzymatic diversity from other microbes. The goal of this study was to evaluate the enzymatic potential of a broad range of plant pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi for their ability to degrade plant biomass and isolated polysaccharides. RESULTS: Large-scale screening identified a range of hydrolytic activities among 348 unique isolates representing 156 species of plant pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi. Hierarchical clustering was used to identify groups of species with similar hydrolytic profiles. Among moderately and highly active species, plant pathogenic species were found to be more active than non-pathogens on six of eight substrates tested, with no significant difference seen on the other two substrates. Among the pathogenic fungi, greater hydrolysis was seen when they were tested on biomass and hemicellulose derived from their host plants (commelinoid monocot or dicot). Although T. reesei has a hydrolytic profile that is highly active on cellulose and pretreated biomass, it was less active than some natural isolates of fungi when tested on xylans and untreated biomass. CONCLUSIONS: Several highly active isolates of plant pathogenic fungi were identified, particularly when tested on xylans and untreated biomass. There were statistically significant preferences for biomass type reflecting the monocot or dicot host preference of the pathogen tested. These highly active fungi are promising targets for identification and characterization of novel cell wall degrading enzymes for industrial applications.

Dataset Information

Gene cluster conservation identifies melanin and perylenequinone biosynthesis pathways in multiple plant pathogenic fungi.

Publications

Gene cluster conservation identifies melanin and perylenequinone biosynthesis pathways in multiple plant pathogenic fungi.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets