Two Horizontally Transferred Xenobiotic Resistance Gene Clusters Associated with Detoxification of Benzoxazolinones by Fusarium Species.

Microbes encounter a broad spectrum of antimicrobial compounds in their environments and often possess metabolic strategies to detoxify such xenobiotics. We have previously shown that Fusarium verticillioides, a fungal pathogen of maize known for its production of fumonisin mycotoxins, possesses two unlinked loci, FDB1 and FDB2, necessary for detoxification of antimicrobial compounds produced by maize, including the γ-lactam 2-benzoxazolinone (BOA). In support of these earlier studies, microarray analysis of F.

Expression of flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase is controlled by P1, the regulator of 3-deoxyflavonoid biosynthesis in maize.

Background: The maize (Zea mays) red aleurone1 (pr1) encodes a CYP450-dependent flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (ZmF3'H1) required for the biosynthesis of purple and red anthocyanin pigments. We previously showed that Zmf3'h1 is regulated by C1 (Colorless1) and R1 (Red1) transcription factors. The current study demonstrates that, in addition to its role in anthocyanin biosynthesis, the Zmf3'h1 gene also participates in the biosynthesis of 3-deoxyflavonoids and phlobaphenes that accumulate in maize pericarps, cob glumes, and silks.

In planta production of the highly potent resveratrol analogue pterostilbene via stilbene synthase and O-methyltransferase co-expression.

Resveratrol and related stilbenes are thought to play important roles in defence responses in several plant species and have also generated considerable interest as nutraceuticals owing to their diverse health-promoting properties. Pterostilbene, a 3,5-dimethylether derivative of resveratrol, possesses properties similar to its parent compound and, additionally, exhibits significantly higher fungicidal activity in vitro and superior pharmacokinetic properties in vivo. Recombinant enzyme studies carried out using a previously characterized O-methyltransferase sequence from Sorghum bicolor (SbOMT3) demonstrated its ability to catalyse the A ring-specific 3,5-bis-O-methylation of resveratrol, yielding pterostilbene.

Reproductive and sphingolipid metabolic effects of fumonisin B(1) and its alkaline hydrolysis product in LM/Bc mice: hydrolyzed fumonisin B(1) did not cause neural tube defects.

Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium verticillioides. They are toxic to animals and exert their effects through mechanisms involving disruption of sphingolipid metabolism. Fumonisins are converted to their hydrolyzed analogs by alkaline cooking (nixtamalization).

Chemotaxis disruption in Pratylenchus scribneri by tall fescue root extracts and alkaloids.

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) forms a symbiotic relationship with the clavicipitalean fungal endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum. Endophyte-infected grass is tolerant to nematode, but the factors responsible are unknown. One objective of this work was to determine if root extracts of tall fescue effected chemoreceptor activity of Pratylenchus scribneri by using an in vitro chemoreception bioassay.

Isolation and characterization of leu7-surfactin from the endophytic bacterium Bacillus mojavensis RRC 101, a biocontrol agent for Fusarium verticillioides.

Bacillus mojavensis is an endophytic bacterium patented for control of fungal diseases in maize and other plants. Culture extracts and filtrates from this bacterium were antagonistic to the pathogenic and mycotoxic fungus Fusarium verticillioides. However, the identity of the inhibitory substance from extracts of this bacterium has not been determined.

Identification of multiple ear-colonizing insect and disease resistance in CIMMYT maize inbred lines with varying levels of silk maysin.

Ninety four corn inbred lines selected from International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT) in Mexico were evaluated for levels of silk maysin in 2001 and 2002. Damage by major ear-feeding insects [i.e.

Flavonoids of zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) cultivars varying in fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) resistance.

Flavonoid profiles of 12 zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) cultivars sampled six times in 1998 were correlated to fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J. E.

Transformation of maize with the p1 transcription factor directs production of silk maysin, a corn earworm resistance factor, in concordance with a hierarchy of floral organ pigmentation.

The maize p1 gene encodes an R2R3-MYB transcription factor that controls the biosynthesis of red flavonoid pigments in floral tissues of the maize plant. Genetic and quantitative trait locus analyses have also associated the p1 gene with the synthesis of maysin, a flavone glycoside from maize silks that confers natural resistance to corn earworm. Here, we show directly that the p1 gene induces maysin accumulation in silk tissues.

Quantity and potential biological activity of caffeic acid in sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] storage root periderm.

The caffeic acid content of storage root periderm and cortex tissues of genetically diverse sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] cultivars and breeding clones was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Effect of husk characters on resistance to corn earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in high-maysin maize populations.

Two maize (Zea mays L.) breeding populations with very high concentrations of maysin, a silk-expressed flavone glycoside, were tested for their ability to resist ear damage by the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea Boddie, under field conditions. Tests were conducted in 2000 and 2001 at multiple locations in Georgia.