ARS | Publication request: Evidence for birth-and-death evolution of a secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster and its relocation within and between genomes of the filamentous fungus Fusarium

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 26, 2012
Publication Date: June 26, 2012
Citation: Proctor, R., Van Hove, F., Susca, A., Stea, G., Busman, M., Van Der Lee, T., Waalwijk, C., Ward, T.J., Moretti, A. 2012. Evidence for birth-and-death evolution of a secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster and its relocation within and between genomes of the filamentous fungus Fusarium. Meeting Abstract.

Technical Abstract: In fungi, genes required for synthesis of secondary metabolites are often clustered. The fumonisin biosynthetic (FUM) gene cluster is required for synthesis of a family of toxic secondary metabolites, fumonisins, produced by some fungi of the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (GFSC). Among GFSC species, the FUM cluster is discontinuously distributed but uniform in gene order and orientation. Here, analyses of phylogenetic relationships and synonymous site divergence provide evidence for amplification of the cluster within the ancestor of the GFSC and subsequent loss and sorting of paralogous clusters in a manner consistent with the birth-and-death model of multigene family evolution. The results also indicate that the cluster has relocated multiple times within GFSC genomes and has undergone horizontal transfer from GFSC to another Fusarium lineage. Thus, despite conservation of gene organization within the FUM cluster, the evolutionary history of the cluster in Fusarium has been complex.