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Molecular characterization of a seed transmitted clavicipitaceous fungus occurring on dicotyledoneous plants (Convolvulaceae)

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Abstract

Ergoline alkaloids (syn. ergot alkaloids) are constituents of clavicipitaceous fungi (Ascomycota) and of one particular dicotyledonous plant family, the Convolvulaceae. While the biology of fungal ergoline alkaloids is rather well understood, the evolutionary and biosynthetic origin of ergoline alkaloids within the family Convolvulaceae is unknown. To investigate the possible origin of ergoline alkaloids from a plant-associated fungus, 12 endophytic fungi and one epibiotic fungus were isolated from an ergoline alkaloid-containing Convolvulaceae plant, Ipomoea asarifolia Roem. & Schult. Phylogenetic trees constructed from 18S rDNA genes as well as internal transcribed spacer (ITS) revealed that the epibiotic fungus belongs to the family Clavicipitaceae (Ascomycota) whereas none of the endophytic fungi does. In vitro and in vivo cultivation on intact plants gave no evidence that the endophytic fungi are responsible for the accumulation of ergoline alkaloids in I. asarifolia whereas the epibiotic clavicipitaceous fungus very likely is equipped with the genetic material to synthesize these compounds. This fungus resisted in vitro and in vivo cultivation and is seed transmitted. Several observations strongly indicate that this plant-associated fungus and its hitherto unidentified relatives occurring on different Convolvulaceae plants are responsible for the isolated occurrence of ergoline alkaloids in Convolvulaceae. This is the first report of an ergot alkaloid producing clavicipitaceous fungus associated with a dicotyledonous plant.

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Abbreviations

ITS:

Internal transcribed spacer

18S rDNA:

Small subunit ribosomal DNA

SSCP:

Single strand conformation polymorphism

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Detlef Gröger (Halle, Germany) for authentic samples of ergoline alkaloids, Dirk Schmitz for growing the plants and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support (to E.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie der Universität Bonn, Nussallee 6, 53115 , Bonn, Germany

    Mahalia A. Ahimsa-Müller, Anne Markert, Sabine Kucht, Julia Groß, Nicole Kauf, Marc Lamshöft, Christel Drewke & Eckhard Leistner

  2. Institut für Pflanzenkrankheiten der Universität Bonn, Nussallee 9, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Ulrike Steiner

  3. Department of Biology and Pharmaceutical Botany, The Medical University of Warsaw, 1 Banacha Str., 02-097, Warsaw, Poland

    Monika Kuzma, Monika Zych & Miroslawa Furmanowa

  4. Institut für Zelluläre und Molekulare Botanik der Universität Bonn, Kirschallee 1, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Volker Knoop

Authors
  1. Ulrike Steiner
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  2. Mahalia A. Ahimsa-Müller
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  3. Anne Markert
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  4. Sabine Kucht
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  6. Nicole Kauf
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  11. Volker Knoop
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  12. Christel Drewke
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  13. Eckhard Leistner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eckhard Leistner.

Additional information

Dedicated to Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Albert Hofmann, the great pioneer of ergot research, on the occasion of his 100th birthday

Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank (accession numbers are given in the text and in Fig. 3)

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Steiner, U., Ahimsa-Müller, M.A., Markert, A. et al. Molecular characterization of a seed transmitted clavicipitaceous fungus occurring on dicotyledoneous plants (Convolvulaceae). Planta 224, 533–544 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-006-0241-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-006-0241-0

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