Transcription of sterol Δ 5,6-desaturase and sterol 14α-demethylase is induced in the plant pathogenic ascomycete, Leptosphaeria maculans, during treatment with a triazole fungicide

Abstract

Two genes whose derived amino acid sequences closely resemble the ergosterol biosynthetic enzymes, sterol Δ 5,6-desaturase ( erg3) and sterol 14α-demethylase ( erg11), were cloned from the plant pathogenic fungus Leptosphaeria maculans. Transcript levels of both these genes increased following exposure of L. maculans to the triazole fungicide, flutriafol, which specifically inhibits the ergosterol biosynthetic pathway. This induction may be due to a decrease in ergosterol content or to abnormal levels of the ergosterol precursor, 24-methylene dihydrolanosterol.