ARS | Publication request: Variation in Sequence and Location of the Fumonisin Mycotoxin Biosynthetic Gene Cluster in Fusarium

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 2, 2010
Publication Date: April 2, 2010
Citation: Proctor, R., Van Hove, F., Susca, A., Stea, G., Busman, M., Van Der Lee, T., Waalwijk, C., Moretti, A. 2010. Variation in sequence and location of the Fumonisin mycotoxin biosynthetic gene cluster in Fusarium. Meeting Abstract.

Technical Abstract: Several Fusarium species in the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (GFSC) and rare strains of F. oxysporum can produce fumonisins, a family of mycotoxins associated with multiple health disorders in humans and animals. In Fusarium, the ability to produce fumonisins is governed by a 17-gene fumonisin biosynthetic gene (FUM) cluster. Here, we examined the cluster in F. oxysporum strain O-1890 and nine other species (e.g. F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides) selected to represent a wide range of the genetic diversity within the GFSC. Flanking-gene analysis revealed that the FUM cluster can be located in one of four genetic environments. Comparison of the genetic environments with a housekeeping gene-based species phylogeny revealed that FUM cluster location is correlated with the phylogenetic relationships of species; the cluster is in the same genetic environment in more closely related species and different environments in more distantly related species. Additional analyses revealed that sequence polymorphism in the FUM cluster is not correlated with phylogenetic relationships of some species. However, cluster polymorphism is associated with production of different classes of fumonisins in some species. As a result, closely related species can have markedly different FUM gene sequences and can produce different classes of fumonisins. The data indicate that the FUM cluster has moved within the Fusarium genome during evolution of the GFSC and further that sequence polymorphism was sometimes maintained during the movement such that clusters with markedly different sequences are now located in the same genetic environment.