The L-type calcium ion channel cch1 affects ascospore discharge and mycelial growth in the filamentous fungus Gibberella zeae (anamorph Fusarium graminearum).

Cch1, a putative voltage-gated calcium ion channel, was investigated for its role in ascus development in Gibberella zeae. Gene replacement mutants of CCH1 were generated and found to have asci which did not forcibly discharge spores, although morphologically ascus and ascospore development in the majority of asci appeared normal. Additionally, mycelial growth was significantly slower, and sexual development was slightly delayed in the mutant; mutant mycelia showed a distinctive fluffy morphology, and no cirrhi were produced.

Gene family encoding the major toxins of lethal Amanita mushrooms.

Amatoxins, the lethal constituents of poisonous mushrooms in the genus Amanita, are bicyclic octapeptides. Two genes in A. bisporigera, AMA1 and PHA1, directly encode alpha-amanitin, an amatoxin, and the related bicyclic heptapeptide phallacidin, a phallotoxin, indicating that these compounds are synthesized on ribosomes and not by nonribosomal peptide synthetases.

Gene expression shifts during perithecium development in Gibberella zeae (anamorph Fusarium graminearum), with particular emphasis on ion transport proteins.

Gibberella zeae, the causal agent of Fusarium head blight, is a devastating pathogen of small grains worldwide. The sexual cycle is a crucial component of head blight epidemiology, as forcibly discharged ascospores serve as the primary inoculum. The recent development of an Affymetrix GeneChip containing probesets representative of all predicted genes of G.

Taxonomy and toxicity of Conocybe lactea and related species.

Conocybe lactea was examined as part of a larger study on the distribution of amatoxins and phallotoxins in fungi, and the taxonomic relationships between these fungi. As amatoxins are present in the congener C. filaris, the locally abundant C.