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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #326606
Title: Aromatic polyketide synthases from 127 Fusarium: pas de deux for chemical diversity

Author
item Brown, Daren
item Kelly, Amy
item Proctor, Robert

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/6/2016
Publication Date: 4/6/2016
Citation: Brown, D.W., Kelly, A.C., Proctor, R. 2016. Aromatic polyketide synthases from 127 Fusarium: pas de deux for chemical diversity [abstract].

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fusarium species collectively cause disease on almost all crop plants and produce numerous natural products (NPs), including mycotoxins, of great concern. Many Fusarium NPs are derived from polyketide synthases (PKSs), large enzymes that catalyze the condensation of simple carboxylic acids. To gain insight into the biosynthesis of aromatic polyketide-derived NPs in Fusarium, we retrieved 340 non-reducing PKS (NR-PKS) genes from 127 Fusarium genome sequences. Phylogenetic analysis resolved the 340 PKSs into 19 clades of which nine are new. Six clades, resolved in a larger, monophyletic clade, include PKSs required for multi-aromatic fused rings (pigments). The remaining 13 clades were polyphyletic but most are likely required for NPs with a single aromatic ring. The latter NR-PKSs were present in 54% of the Fusarium examined and in at least one member of each of the 20 Fusarium species complexes surveyed. The NR-PKSs in 7 clades are flanked by a reducing PKS (R-PKS). The R-PKSs in NR-/R-PKS sets characterized synthesize a C-8 to C-12 carbon chain that is used by the NR-PKS as a starter unit to synthesize a larger polyketide (e.g. zearalenone). Comparison of Fusarium PKSs to PKSs from other Ascomycetes provides genetic evidence that Fusarium has the potential to synthesize an NP previously reported in another fungus. The multiple, evolutionary origins of NR-/R-PKS pairs and their broad distribution attest to their important contribution to Fusarium chemical diversity.