Evidence for a gene cluster involving trichothecene-pathway biosynthetic genes in Fusarium sporotrichioides

Abstract

Two overlapping cosmid clones (Cos1-1 and Cos9-1) carrying the Tox5 gene were isolated from a library of F. sporotrichioides strain NRRL 3299 genomic DNA. These cosmids were used to transform three T-2 toxin-deficient mutants that are blocked at different steps in the trichothecene pathway. Both cosmids restored T-2 toxin production to Tox3-1 ⁻ or Tox4-1 ⁻ mutants but neither restored T-2 toxin production to a Tox1–2 ⁻ mutant. The production of T-2 toxin by the complemented Tox3-1 ⁻ and Tox4-1 ⁻ mutants, as well as the production of diacetoxyscirpenol by the cosmid-transformed Tox1-2 ⁻ mutant, were 2- to 10- fold higher than in strain NRRL 3299. In addition, those transformants carrying Cos9-1 produced significantly higher levels of trichothecenes than transformants carrying Cos1-1. Two different DNA fragments (FSC13-9 and FSC14-5), representing the region of overlap between the cosmid clones, were isolated. These fragments specifically complemented either the Tox3-1 ⁻ mutant (FSC14-5) or the Tox4-1 ⁻ mutant (FSC13-9). The trichothecene-production phenotype of these transformants was similar to NRRL 3299. These results suggest that two or more genes involved in the biosynthesis of trichothecenes are closely linked to Tox5.