- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text (Rapid PDF)
- Supplemental Data
-
All Versions of this Article:
genetics.104.035972v1
169/3/1403 most recent - Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
-
Author home page(s):
Christopher Lewis Schardl
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Spiering, M. J.
- Articles by Schardl, C. L.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Spiering, M. J.
- Articles by Schardl, C. L.
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.035972
A more recent version of this article appeared on March 1, 2005.
REGULAR RESEARCH PAPERS |
Gene clusters for insecticidal loline alkaloids in the grass-endophytic fungus Neotyphodium uncinatum
Martin Juergen Spiering 1, Christina Diane Moon 2, Heather Hope Wilkinson 3 and Christopher Lewis Schardl 1*
1 University of Kentucky
2 University of Oxford
3 Texas A&M University
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schardl{at}uky.edu.
Submitted on September 5, 2004
Revised on November 9, 2004
Accepted on 30 November 2004
Loline alkaloids are produced by mutualistic fungi symbiotic with grasses, and protect the host plants from insects. Here we identify in the fungal symbiont, Neotyphodium uncinatum, two homologous gene clusters (LOL-1 and LOL-2) associated with loline-alkaloid production. Nine genes were identified in a 25-kb region of LOL-1, and designated (in order) lolF-1, lolC-1, lolD-1, lolO-1, lolA-1, lolU-1, lolP-1, lolT-1, and lolE-1. LOL-2 contained the homologues lolC-2 through lolE-2 in the same order and orientation. Also identified was lolF-2, but its possible linkage with either cluster was undetermined. Most lol genes were regulated in N. uncinatum and Neotyphodium coenophialum, and all were expressed concomitantly with loline-alkaloid biosynthesis. A lolC-2 RNA-interference (RNAi) construct was introduced into N. uncinatum, and in two independent transformants RNAi significantly decreased lolC expression (p < 0.01) and loline-alkaloid accumulation in culture (p < 0.001) compared to vector-only controls, indicating involvement of lolC in biosynthesis of lolines. The predicted LolU protein had a DNA binding site signature, and the relationships of other lol gene products indicated that the pathway has evolved from various different primary and secondary biosynthesis pathways.
Key Words: RNA-interference, alkaloids, biosynthesis genes, pyrrolizidines, symbiosis
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  S. Hewald, U. Linne, M. Scherer, M. A. Marahiel, J. Kamper, and M. Bolker Identification of a Gene Cluster for Biosynthesis of Mannosylerythritol Lipids in the Basidiomycetous Fungus Ustilago maydis Appl. Envir. Microbiol., August 1, 2006; 72(8): 5469 - 5477. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. A. Walti, C. Villalba, R. M. Buser, A. Grunler, M. Aebi, and M. Kunzler Targeted Gene Silencing in the Model Mushroom Coprinopsis cinerea (Coprinus cinereus) by Expression of Homologous Hairpin RNAs. Eukaryot. Cell, April 1, 2006; 5(4): 732 - 744. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Tanaka, M. J. Christensen, D. Takemoto, P. Park, and B. Scott Reactive Oxygen Species Play a Role in Regulating a Fungus-Perennial Ryegrass Mutualistic Interaction PLANT CELL, April 1, 2006; 18(4): 1052 - 1066. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|