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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 #336549
Research Project: Genomic and Metabolomic Approaches for Detection and Control of Fusarium, Fumonisins and Other Mycotoxins on Corn

Location: Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research

Title: Comparative genomic analysis of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters in 207 isolates of Fusarium

Author
item Kim, Hye-Seon
item Proctor, Robert
item Brown, Daren

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/19/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Fusarium species are known for their ability to produce secondary metabolites (SMs), including plant hormones, pigments, mycotoxins, and other compounds with potential agricultural, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological impact. Understanding the distribution of SM biosynthetic gene clusters across the phylogenetic diversity of Fusarium should provide insight into how changes in selection for production of SMs affect genome dynamics in the fungus. Using genome mining tools, such as antiSMASH and OrthoFinder, we identified known, novel, and putative SM gene clusters in 207 genomes from 159 species representing 25 species complexes of Fusarium. We found multiple homologs of 45 gene clusters responsible for biosynthesis of known mycotoxins and other SMs (i.e., trichothecenes, fumonisins, zearalenone, and fusaric acid). A total of 9403 SM gene clusters were detected in the 207 genomes, including 2276 clusters with non-ribosomal peptide synthetase genes, 2267 with polyketide synthase genes, and 1743 with terpene synthase genes. Closely related species within a species complex have similar numbers of SM clusters. For example, members of the F. fujikuroi species complex had 43 – 61 SM clusters, whereas distantly related species from different species complexes had 26 – 68 SM clusters. The comparative genomic analysis indicated that the gibberellin (plant hormone), fumonisin and zearalenone (mycotoxins) gene clusters have limited distribution, whereas the carotenoid and fusarubin (pigments) clusters are present in all members of most species complexes; they are absent only in some basal lineages of Fusarium. These data indicate that SM gene clusters differ markedly in when they were acquired and how long they have persisted during the evolutionary diversification of Fusarium.