Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #166953
Title: GENOMICS APPROACH FOR SOLVING A MYCOTOXIN PROBLEM IN MAIZE

Author
item Proctor, Robert
item Brown, Daren
item Butchko, Robert
item Plattner, Ronald
item Kendra, David

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/13/2004
Publication Date: 8/4/2004
Citation: Proctor, R., Brown, D.W., Butchko, R.A., Plattner, R.D., Kendra, D.F. 2004. Genomics approach for solving a mycotoxin problem in maize [abstract]. American Phytopathological Society Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fumonisins are polyketide-derived mycotoxins produced by the maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides and cause several fatal animal diseases including cancer in laboratory rodents. Eliminating fumonisins in maize has been a major objective of fumonisin-related research since the identification of these mycotoxins in 1988. To achieve these objectives, researchers are trying to elucidate the genetic and biochemical pathways that regulate fumonisin biosynthesis and to identify factors that allow F. verticillioides to infect maize and cause disease. As part of these approaches, we have created a F. verticillioides Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) database. The ESTs were generated from nine cDNA libraries, each constructed from a different growth condition. Conditions included a liquid culture that promoted fumonisin production and a culture that contained maize tissue or extracts. To date over 92,000 cDNA clones have been sequenced. Bioinformatic analyses have revealed that these sequences correspond to over 9,500 F. verticillioides genes, including all fifteen genes in the fumonisin biosynthetic gene (FUM) cluster. The FUM ESTs were recovered only from cDNA libraries generated from fumonisin-promoting cultures. These results indicate that the EST database is rich in sequences of differentially expressed genes and that comparisons of ESTs derived from different cDNA libraries may facilitate the identification of fumonisin regulatory and maize-induced genes.