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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 #259245
Title: Gene Deletion and Functional Analysis of Fusarium verticillioides Trehalose Metabolism

Author
item BOUDREAU, BETH - Bradley University
item ROBERTS, ETHAN - Bradley University
item Larson, Troy
item Brown, Daren
item MCQUADE, KRISTI - Bradley University

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2010
Publication Date: 10/15/2010
Citation: Boudreau, B.A., Roberts, E.S., Larson, T.M., Brown, D.W., Mcquade, K.L. 2010. Gene deletion and functional analysis of Fusarium verticillioides trehalose metabolism [abstract]. Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates in Science, Engineering & Mathematics and the Central States Universities, Inc.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fusarium verticillioides is a species of fungus that causes stalk, ear, and kernel rot of corn and produces fumonisins, a group of mycotoxins that have dangerous health effects. We have observed previously that the intracellular concentration of trehalose, a disaccharide involved in resistance to stress in fungi, changes dramatically upon exposure to heat or cold stress or to the antibiotic validamycin A. To further study the role of trehalose metabolism in this fungus, we used a double homologous recombination approach to create six mutant strains, each lacking one gene likely to be involved in trehalose synthesis or degradation. A preliminary screen of the mutants suggests that, with the exception of the delta TRP1 mutant (which lacks the gene coding for trehalose phosphorylase), all the mutants grow more slowly than the wild type strain at both optimal (25 deg. C) and elevated (35 deg. C) temperatures. The delta TPS1 mutant, which lacks the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase gene, is severely compromised in its ability to make trehalose and appears to compensate by accumulating additional glycogen. Fumonisin levels in delta TPS1 cultures are also dramatically lower than in wild-type cultures, suggesting a possible link between trehalose accumulation and fumonisin production.