Chromosome rearrangements shape the diversification of secondary metabolism in the cyclosporin producing fungus Tolypocladium inflatum.

Background: Genes involved in production of secondary metabolites (SMs) in fungi are exceptionally diverse. Even strains of the same species may exhibit differences in metabolite production, a finding that has important implications for drug discovery. Unlike in other eukaryotes, genes producing SMs are often clustered and co-expressed in fungal genomes, but the genetic mechanisms involved in the creation and maintenance of these secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (SMBGCs) remains poorly understood.

Localizing gene regulation reveals a staggered wood decay mechanism for the brown rot fungus Postia placenta.

Wood-degrading brown rot fungi are essential recyclers of plant biomass in forest ecosystems. Their efficient cellulolytic systems, which have potential biotechnological applications, apparently depend on a combination of two mechanisms: lignocellulose oxidation (LOX) by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and polysaccharide hydrolysis by a limited set of glycoside hydrolases (GHs). Given that ROS are strongly oxidizing and nonselective, these two steps are likely segregated.

Cellular development associated with induced mycotoxin synthesis in the filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum.

Several species of the filamentous fungus Fusarium colonize plants and produce toxic small molecules that contaminate agricultural products, rendering them unsuitable for consumption. Among the most destructive of these species is F. graminearum, which causes disease in wheat and barley and often infests the grain with harmful trichothecene mycotoxins.

Fusarium graminearum Tri12p influences virulence to wheat and trichothecene accumulation.

The gene Tri12 encodes a predicted major facilitator superfamily protein suggested to play a role in export of trichothecene mycotoxins produced by Fusarium spp. It is unclear, however, how the Tri12 protein (Tri12p) may influence trichothecene sensitivity and virulence of the wheat pathogen Fusarium graminearum. In this study, we establish a role for Tri12 in toxin accumulation and sensitivity as well as in pathogenicity toward wheat.