Abstract
Ganoderma lucidum is a mushroom with traditional medicinal properties that has been widely used in China and other countries in Eastern Asia. Ganoderic acids (GA) produced by G. lucidum exhibit important pharmacological activities. Previous studies have demonstrated that methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a potent inducer of GA biosynthesis and the expression of genes involved in the GA biosynthesis pathway in G. lucidum. To further explore the mechanism of GA biosynthesis, cDNA-Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) was used to identify genes that are differentially expressed in response to MeJA. Using 64 primer combinations, over 3910 transcriptionally derived fragments (TDFs) were obtained. Reliable sequence data were obtained for 390 of 458 selected TDFs. Ninety of these TDFs were annotated with known functions through BLASTX searching the GenBank database, and 12 annotated TDFs were assigned into secondary metabolic pathways by searching the KEGGPATHWAY database. Twenty-five TDFs were selected for qRT-PCR analysis to confirm the expression patterns observed with cDNA-AFLP. The qRT-PCR results were consistent with the altered patterns of gene expression revealed by the cDNA-AFLP technique. Additionally, the transcript levels of 10 genes were measured at the mycelium, primordia, and fruiting body developmental stages of G. lucidum. The greatest expression levels were reached during primordia for all of the genes except cytochrome b2 reached its highest expression level in the mycelium stage. This study not only identifies new candidate genes involved in the regulation of GA biosynthesis but also provides further insight into MeJA-induced gene expression and secondary metabolic response in G. lucidum.
Highlights
Medicinal mushrooms are viewed as a rich source of therapeutically useful biologically active agents
Few data are available to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of the secondary metabolite biosynthesis in response to environmental factors in fungi due to the complex regulatory network and regulatory gene interactions involved [36,37,38]
The same challenge exists for understanding the mechanisms governing the regulation of Ganoderic acids (GA) biosynthesis [39,40]
Summary
Medicinal mushrooms are viewed as a rich source of therapeutically useful biologically active agents. There are approximately 700 species of higher basidiomycetes that have been found to possess significant pharmacological activities [1]. Ganoderma lucidum (Ling-Zhi in Chinese and Reishi in Japanese) has been widely used in Asia as a home remedy to treat minor disorders and promote vitality and longevity [2]. Most GAs have important medicinal value, such as the regulation of osteoclast genesis [5], the inhibition of cholesterol synthesis [3] and tumor growth [6], and protection of the liver [7]. Despite the important pharmacological potential of GAs, low GA yield from both field cultivation and fermentation limits its wide-spread use
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