Abstract
Cordyceps militaris fruiting bodies contain a variety of bioactive components that are beneficial to the human body. However, the low yield of fruiting bodies and the low carotenoid content in C. militaris have seriously hindered the development of the C. militaris industry. To elucidate the developmental mechanism of the fruiting bodies of C. militaris and the biosynthesis mechanism of carotenoids, the function of the flavohemoprotein-like Cmfhp gene of C. militaris was identified for the first time. The Cmfhp gene was knocked out by the split-marker method, and the targeted gene deletion mutant ΔCmfhp was obtained. An increased nitric oxide (NO) content, no fruiting body production, decreased carotenoid content, and reduced conidial production were found in the mutant ΔCmfhp. These characteristics were restored when the Cmfhp gene expression cassette was complemented into the ΔCmfhp strain by the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation method. Nonetheless, the Cmfhp gene had no significant effect on the mycelial growth rate of C. militaris. These results indicated that the Cmfhp gene regulated the biosynthesis of NO and carotenoids, the development of fruiting bodies, and the formation of conidia. These findings potentially pave the way to reveal the developmental mechanism of fruiting bodies and the biosynthesis mechanism of carotenoids in C. militaris.
Highlights
Cordyceps militaris is a well-known medicinal and edible filamentous fungus
We found that the Cmfhp gene affected the formation of C. militaris fruiting bodies and conidia and regulated the production of nitric oxide (NO) and carotenoids
The function of the Cmfhp gene in C. militaris was identified by gene knockout and gene complementation for the first time, and the target gene deletion mutant ∆Cmfhp and the target gene complementary strain ∆Cmfhp-c were obtained
Summary
Cordyceps militaris is a well-known medicinal and edible filamentous fungus. It has been widely used in many countries because it contains many kinds of bioactive components (such as cordycepin, cordycepic acid, polysaccharides, carotenoids, ergosterol, etc.) [1,2,3,4]. These bioactive components endow C. militaris with anticancer, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities [5,6,7].
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