Abstract
BackgroundFusarium head blight is a disease of global concern that reduces crop yields and renders grains unfit for consumption due to mycotoxin contamination. Fusarium poae is frequently associated with cereal crops showing symptoms of Fusarium head blight. While previous studies have shown F. poae isolates produce a range of known mycotoxins, including type A and B trichothecenes, fusarins and beauvericin, genomic analysis suggests that this species may have lineage-specific accessory chromosomes with secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters awaiting description.MethodsWe examined the biosynthetic potential of 38 F. poae isolates from Eastern Canada using a combination of long-read and short-read genome sequencing and untargeted, high resolution mass spectrometry metabolome analysis of extracts from isolates cultured in multiple media conditions.ResultsA high-quality assembly of isolate DAOMC 252244 (Fp157) contained four core chromosomes as well as seven additional contigs with traits associated with accessory chromosomes. One of the predicted accessory contigs harbours a functional biosynthetic gene cluster containing homologs of all genes associated with the production of apicidins. Metabolomic and genomic analyses confirm apicidins are produced in 4 of the 38 isolates investigated and genomic PCR screening detected the apicidin synthetase gene APS1 in approximately 7% of Eastern Canadian isolates surveyed.ConclusionsApicidin biosynthesis is linked to isolate-specific putative accessory chromosomes in F. poae. The data produced here are an important resource for furthering our understanding of accessory chromosome evolution and the biosynthetic potential of F. poae.
Highlights
Fusarium head blight is a disease of global concern that reduces crop yields and renders grains unfit for consumption due to mycotoxin contamination
Isolate selection for genomic and metabolomic analysis All isolates under investigation were initially identified morphologically and confirmed as F. poae by TEF1-α gene sequence homology with other sequenced Fusaria at the Fusarium-ID website [24]
From a culture collection of 184 F. poae isolates, a subset of 38 isolates were selected for detailed genomic and metabolomic analysis (Additional file 1 contains a list of all isolates screened)
Summary
Fusarium head blight is a disease of global concern that reduces crop yields and renders grains unfit for consumption due to mycotoxin contamination. Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an economically devastating cereal crop disease that reduces yields, contaminates grains with harmful mycotoxins, and represents a threat to global food security [1]. Beauvericin, enniatins and fusarins have been detected from F. poae isolates grown in laboratory conditions and from FHB-damaged grain [9] While none of these mycotoxins are monitored or regulated in Canada or Europe, in part due to insufficient studies of in vivo toxicity and lack of toxicokinetic data [12, 13], in vitro and in vivo studies suggest many of these molecules have genotoxic effects, have immunomodulating activity, and in some cases pose a reproductive health hazard to consumers [13]. The potential roles of these molecules (often termed ‘secondary metabolites’) in the context of plant invasion are poorly understood
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