ARS | Publication request: Fusarium verticillioides gene expression profiling by microarray analysis

Submitted to: Multicrop Aflatoxin and Fumonisin Elimination and Fungal Genomics Workshop-The Peanut Foundation
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 21, 2007
Publication Date: October 24, 2007
Citation: Butchko, R.A., Brown, D.W., Busman, M., Proctor, R. 2007. Fusarium verticillioides gene expression profiling by microarray analysis [abstract]. Multicrop Aflatoxin and Fumonisin Elimination and Fungal Genomics Workshop-The Peanut Foundation. p. 45.

Technical Abstract: Fusarium verticillioides is a pathogen of maize and it can produce the toxic polyketide derived secondary metabolites called fumonisins. Fumonisins have been shown to cause animal diseases and are epidemiologically correlated to esophageal cancer and neural tube defects in humans. The genes necessary for fumonisin production are clustered and co-regulated. Fumonisins are but one type of polyketide secondary metabolite produced by F. verticillioides, and the role or function of fumonisins has not been clearly defined. A number of genomic resources have become available over the past few years including the Fusarium verticillioides Gene Index (FvGI), the whole genome sequence from The Broad Institute, and deoxyribonucleic (DNA) microarrays. Through the efforts of whole genome sequencing projects, multiple polyketide synthase (PKS) genes have been identified in F. verticillioides. Only a few of the polyketide derived products of these PKS genes have been identified and characterized. DNA microarrays specific to different filamentous fungi have been used to compare expression of multitudes of genes between different conditions. These conditions can include time courses, nutrient availability, and the presence of host material in the case of plant pathogenic fungi. The F. verticillioides DNA microarrays have been used to compare the expression of the sixteen PKS genes between a fumonisin non-producing strain and the wild-type strain. A number of different relationships emerge from this analysis, the most prevalent being a decrease in expression of the PKS gene in the fumonisin non-producing background. However, one example stands out. Expression of one of the PKS genes appears to be higher in the fumonisin non-producing strain than in the wild-type. This might provide an avenue for the identification and characterization of a new polyketide from F. verticillioides. Furthermore, this type of analysis, screening for differential gene expressing in mutant strains of F. verticillioides, could lead to the identification of novel genes involved in secondary metabolism and potentially the plant-pathogen interaction as well.