Abstract
Nitrogen sources in media have a significant impact on the onset of secondary metabolism in fungi. For transcriptional activation of many nitrogen catabolic genes, an AreA transcription factor is indispensable. This also holds true for Fusarium graminearum that produces trichothecenes, an important group of mycotoxin, in axenic culture. Despite the presence of numerous consensus AreA-binding sites in the promoters of Tri genes in the trichothecene cluster core region, the effect of medium amino acids on trichothecene biosynthesis is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effect of certain amino acids, which were predicted to activate AreA function and increase Tri gene transcription, on trichothecene production in liquid culture. By frequent monitoring and adjustments in the pH of the culture medium, including replacement of the spent medium with fresh medium, we demonstrate the suppressive effects of the amino acids, used as the sole nitrogen source, on trichothecene biosynthesis. When the medium pH was maintained at 4.0, Gly, l-Ser, and l-Thr suppressed trichothecene production by F. graminearum. Enhanced trichothecene-inducing effects were observed when the medium pH was 3.5, with only l-Thr suppressing trichothecene synthesis.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the Project of the NARO Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (Research program on development of innovative technology) (grant number 28007A) and Kieikai Research Foundation (grant number 2017S056).
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YN, KM, KK, TK, and MK designed study, TS, YN, KM, MA, YK, and TN performed research, TS, YN, KM, SO, TN and MK analyzed data, and MK wrote the paper.
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Shiobara, T., Nakajima, Y., Maeda, K. et al. Identification of amino acids negatively affecting Fusarium trichothecene biosynthesis. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 112, 471–478 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-018-1172-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-018-1172-z