Abstract
A remarkable feature of filamentous fungi is their ability to produce small yet structurally complex and often bioactive natural products. In this mini-review, we cover advances in the research on fungal secondary metabolites, particularly mycotoxins, and focus on biosynthetic aspects as well as on the complex regulatory mechanisms which control the expression of biosynthetic genes. We also highlight the increasing impact of genomics and transcriptomics, which help explore the realm of secondary metabolism of fungi.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Atoui A, Bao D, Kaur N, Grayburn WS, Calvo AM (2008) Aspergillus nidulans natural product biosynthesis is regulated by MpkB, a putative pheromone response mitogen-activated protein kinase. Appl Environ Microbiol 74:3596–3600
Balibar CJ, Walsh CT (2006) GliP, a multimodular nonribosomal peptide synthetase in Aspergillus fumigatus, makes the diketopiperazine scaffold of gliotoxin. Biochemistry 45:15029–15038
Balibar CJ, Howard-Jones AR, Walsh CT (2007) Terrequinone A biosynthesis through l-tryptophan oxidation, dimerization and bisprenylation. Nat Chem Biol 3:584–592
Bayram Ö, Krappmann S, Ni M, Bok JW, Helmstaedt K, Valerius O, Braus-Stromeyer S, Kwon NJ, Keller NP, Yu JH, Braus GH (2008) VelB/VeA/LaeA complex coordinates light signal with fungal development and secondary metabolism. Science 320:1504–1506
Bergmann S, Schümann J, Scherlach K, Lange C, Brakhage AA, Hertweck C (2007) Genomics-driven discovery of PKS-NRPS hybrid metabolites from Aspergillus nidulans. Nat Chem Biol 3:213–217
Bok JW, Keller NP (2004) LaeA, a regulator of secondary metabolism in Aspergillus spp. Eukaryot Cell 3:527–535
Bok JW, Balajee SA, Marr KA, Andes D, Nielsen KF, Frisvad JC, Keller NP (2005) LaeA, a regulator of morphogenetic fungal virulence factors. Eukaryot Cell 4:1574–1582
Bok JW, Hoffmeister D, Maggio-Hall LA, Murillo R, Glasner JD, Keller NP (2006a) Genomic mining for Aspergillus natural products. Chem Biol 13:31–37
Bok JW, Noordermeer D, Kale SP, Keller NP (2006b) Secondary metabolic gene cluster silencing in Aspergillus nidulans. Mol Microbiol 61:1636–1645
Bok JW, Chiang YM, Szewczyk E, Reyes-Dominguez Y, Davidson AD, Sanchez JF, Lo HC, Watanabe K, Strauss J, Oakley BR, Wang CC, Keller NP (2009) Chromatin-level regulation of biosynthetic gene clusters. Nat Chem Biol 5:462–464
Bouhired S, Weber M, Kempf-Sontag A, Keller NP, Hoffmeister D (2007) Accurate prediction of the Aspergillus nidulans terrequinone gene cluster boundaries using the transcriptional regulator LaeA. Fungal Genet Biol 44:1134–1145
Brown DW, Yu JH, Kelkar HS, Fernandes M, Nesbitt TC, Keller NP, Adams TH, Leonard TJ (1996) Twenty-five coregulated transcripts define a sterigmatocystin gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:1418–1422
Chiang YM, Lee KH, Sanchez JF, Keller NP, Wang CC (2009) Unlocking fungal cryptic natural products. Nat Prod Commun 4:1505–1510
Coleman JJ, Rounsley SD, Rodriguez-Carres M, Kuo A, Wasmann CC, Grimwood J, Schmutz J, Taga M, White GJ, Zhou S, Schwartz DC, Freitag M, Ma LJ, Danchin EG, Henrissat B, Coutinho PM, Nelson DR, Straney D, Napoli CA, Barker BM, Gribskov M, Rep M, Kroken S, Molnár I, Rensing C, Kennell JC, Zamora J, Farman ML, Selker EU, Salamov A, Shapiro H, Pangilinan J, Lindquist E, Lamers C, Grigoriev IV, Geiser DM, Covert SF, Temporini E, Vanetten HD (2009) The genome of Nectria haematococca: contribution of supernumerary chromosomes to gene expansion. PLoS Genet 5:e1000618
Cramer RA Jr, Gamcsik MP, Brooking RM, Najvar LK, Kirkpatrick WR, Patterson TF, Balibar CJ, Graybill JR, Perfect JR, Abraham SN, Steinbach WJ (2006a) Disruption of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase in Aspergillus fumigatus eliminates gliotoxin production. Eukaryot Cell 5:972–980
Cramer RA Jr, Stajich JE, Yamanaka Y, Dietrich FS, Steinbach WJ, Perfect JR (2006b) Phylogenomic analysis of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases in the genus Aspergillus. Gene 383:24–32
Desjardins AE (2009) From yellow rain to green wheat: 25 years of trichothecene biosynthesis research. J Agric Food Chem 57:4478–4484
Elliott CE, Gardiner DM, Thomas G, Cozijnsen A, De Wouw AV, Howlett BJ (2007) Production of the toxin sirodesmin PL by Leptosphaeria maculans during infection of Brassica napus. Mol Plant Pathol 8:791–802
Fox EM, Howlett BJ (2008) Biosynthetic gene clusters for epipolythiodioxopiperazines in filamentous fungi. Mycol Res 112:162–169
Gaffoor I, Trail F (2006) Characterization of two polyketide synthase genes involved in zearalenone biosynthesis in Gibberella zeae. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:1793–1799
Hallen HE, Luo H, Scott-Craig JS, Walton JD (2007) Gene family encoding the major toxins of lethal Amanita mushrooms. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:19097–19101
Hoffmeister D, Keller NP (2007) Natural products of filamentous fungi: enzymes, genes, and their regulation. Nat Prod Rep 24:393–416
Hou Z, Xue C, Peng Y, Katan T, Kistler HC, Xu JR (2002) A mitogen-activated protein kinase gene (MGV1) in Fusarium graminearum is required for female fertility, heterokaryon formation, and plant infection. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 15:1119–1127
Kale SP, Milde L, Trapp MK, Frisvad JC, Keller NP, Bok JW (2008) Requirement of LaeA for secondary metabolism and sclerotial production in Aspergillus flavus. Fungal Genet Biol 45:1422–1429
Keller NP, Turner G, Bennett JW (2005) Fungal secondary metabolism—from biochemistry to genomics. Nat Rev Microbiol 3:937–947
Kim YT, Lee YR, Jin J, Han KH, Kim H, Kim JC, Lee T, Yun SH, Lee YW (2005) Two different polyketide synthase genes are required for synthesis of zearalenone in Gibberella zeae. Mol Microbiol 58:1102–1113
Kosalková K, García-Estrada C, Ullán RV, Godio RP, Feltrer R, Teijeira F, Mauriz E, Martín JF (2009) The global regulator LaeA controls penicillin biosynthesis, pigmentation and sporulation, but not roquefortine C synthesis in Penicillium chrysogenum. Biochimie 91:214–225
Kucht S, Gross J, Hussein Y, Grothe T, Keller U, Basar S, Konig WA, Steiner U, Leistner E (2004) Elimination of ergoline alkaloids following treatment of Ipomoea asarifolia (Convolvulaceae) with fungicides. Planta 219:619–625
Kupfahl C, Heinekamp T, Geginat G, Ruppert T, Härtl A, Hof H, Brakhage AA (2006) Deletion of the gliP gene of Aspergillus fumigatus results in loss of gliotoxin production but has no effect on virulence of the fungus in a low-dose mouse infection model. Mol Microbiol 62:292–302
Lorenz N, Haarmann T, Pazoutová S, Jung M, Tudzynski P (2009) The ergot alkaloid gene cluster: functional analyses and evolutionary aspects. Phytochemistry 70:1822–1832
Luo H, Hallen-Adams HE, Walton JD (2009) Processing of the phalloidin proprotein by prolyl oligopeptidase from the mushroom Conocybe albipes. J Biol Chem 284:18070–18077
Lysøe E, Klemsdal SS, Bone KR, Frandsen RJ, Johansen T, Thrane U, Giese H (2006) The PKS4 gene of Fusarium graminearum is essential for zearalenone production. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:3924–3932
Lysøe E, Bone KR, Klemsdal SS (2009) Real-time quantitative expression studies of the zearalenone biosynthetic gene cluster in Fusarium graminearum. Phytopathology 99:176–184
Markert A, Steffan N, Ploss K, Hellwig S, Steiner U, Drewke C, Li SM, Boland W, Leistner E (2008) Biosynthesis and accumulation of ergoline alkaloids in a mutualistic association between Ipomoea asarifolia (Convolvulaceae) and a clavicipitalean fungus. Plant Physiol 147:296–305
Matsuura M, Saikawa Y, Inui K, Nakae K, Igarashi M, Hashimoto K, Nakata M (2009) Identification of the toxic trigger in mushroom poisoning. Nat Chem Biol 5:465–467
Perrin RM, Fedorova ND, Bok JW, Cramer RA, Wortman JR, Kim HS, Nierman WC, Keller NP (2007) Transcriptional regulation of chemical diversity in Aspergillus fumigatus by LaeA. PLoS Pathog 3:e50
Proctor RH, Brown DW, Plattner RD, Desjardins AE (2003) Co-expression of 15 contiguous genes delineates a fumonisin biosynthetic gene cluster in Gibberella moniliformis. Fungal Genet Biol 38:237–249
Proctor RH, Plattner RD, Brown DW, Seo JA, Lee YW (2004) Discontinuous distribution of fumonisin biosynthetic genes in the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. Mycol Res 108:815–822
Reyes-Dominguez Y, Bok JW, Berger H, Shwab EK, Basheer A, Gallmetzer A, Scazzocchio C, Keller N, Strauss J (2010) Heterochromatic marks are associated with the repression of secondary metabolism clusters in Aspergillus nidulans. Mol Microbiol (in press) doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07051.x
Scherlach K, Hertweck C (2006) Discovery of aspoquinolones A–D, prenylated quinoline-2-one alkaloids from Aspergillus nidulans, motivated by genome mining. Org Biomol Chem 4:3517–3520
Schneider P, Weber M, Rosenberger K, Hoffmeister D (2007) A one-pot chemoenzymatic synthesis for the universal precursor of antidiabetes and antiviral bis-indolylquinones. Chem Biol 14:635–644
Schneider P, Bouhired S, Hoffmeister D (2008) Characterization of the atromentin biosynthesis genes and enzymes in the homobasidiomycete Tapinella panuoides. Fungal Genet Biol 45:1487–1496
Stadler M, Keller NP (2008) Paradigm shifts in fungal secondary metabolite research. Mycol Res 112:127–130
Steiner U, Ahimsa-Müller MA, Markert A, Kucht S, Gross J, Kauf N, Kuzma M, Zych M, Lamshoft M, Furmanowa M, Knoop V, Drewke C, Leistner E (2006) Molecular characterization of a seed transmitted clavicipitaceous fungus occurring on dicotyledoneous plants (Convolvulaceae). Planta 224:533–544
Sugui JA, Pardo J, Chang YC, Zarember KA, Nardone G, Galvez EM, Müllbacher A, Gallin JI, Simon MM, Kwon-Chung KJ (2007) Gliotoxin is a virulence factor of Aspergillus fumigatus: gliP deletion attenuates virulence in mice immunosuppressed with hydrocortisone. Eukaryot Cell 6:1562–1569
von Döhren H (2009) A survey of nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) genes in Aspergillus nidulans. Fungal Genet Biol 46(Suppl 1):S45–S52
Acknowledgments
M.B. acknowledges a predoctoral fellowship of the Jena School of Microbial Communication (JSMC). Research in D.H.s laboratory is supported by the Leibniz-Institute for Infection Biology and Natural Product research—Hans-Knöll-Institute, by the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, and by the International Leibniz Research School for Microbial Interaction (ILRS Mibintact).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bohnert, M., Wackler, B. & Hoffmeister, D. Spotlights on advances in mycotoxin research. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 87, 1–7 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2565-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2565-8