|Amatulli, Maria Teresa -|
|Gullino, Maria Lodovica -|
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 19, 2011
Publication Date: March 19, 2011
Citation: Amatulli, M., Maragos, C.M., Busman, M., Brown, D.W., Butchko, R.A., Gullino, M., Proctor, R. 2011. Distribution and evolution of fusarin mycotoxin biosynthetic genes in Fusarium [abstract]. Fungal Genetics. p. 214. Technical Abstract: In Fusarium/Gibberella, secondary metabolite biosynthetic (SMB) genes that have a narrow distribution within the genus can have complex evolutionary histories. Whether more widely distributed SMB genes have similarly complex histories is not known. Genes responsible for production of fusarin mycotoxins may provide an opportunity to address this question because they occur in at least two distantly related species, F. verticillioides and F. graminearum. The fusarin polyketide synthase gene (FUS1) and eight genes (FUS2 - FUS9) immediately upstream of it are thought to be a fusarin biosynthetic gene cluster based on their co-expression under culture conditions conducive to toxin production. Here, we examined genetically diverse fusaria by Southern and PCR analysis for the presence of FUS genes. We detected the genes in multiple species of three Fusarium lineages: the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (GFSC), the F. tricinctum species complex, and the trichothecene-producing clade. In contrast, we did not detect FUS genes in the F. oxysporum species complex or in closely related species (e.g. F. miscanthi), nor did we observe them in the genome sequence database for F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Preliminary analyses indicate that FUS gene-based phylogenies are concordant with primary metabolic gene-based phylogenies for most but not all fusaria. Our data indicate that FUS genes are widely distributed but not present uniformly in Fusarium and that their evolutionary histories can be complex.