HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Desjardins, A. E. Articles by Proctor, R. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Desjardins, A. E. Articles by Proctor, R. H. Agricola Articles by Desjardins, A. E. Articles by Proctor, R. H.

Analysis of aberrant virulence of Gibberella zeae following transformation-mediated complementation of a trichothecene-deficient (Tri5) mutant

Mycotoxin Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Peoria, IL 61604, USA¹
Department of Plant and Soil Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA²

Author for correspondence: Anne E. Desjardins. Tel: +1 309 681 6378. Fax: +1 309 681 6671. e-mail: desjarae{at}mail.ncaur.usda.gov

Gibberella zeae causes wheat ear blight and produces trichothecene toxins in infected grain. In previous studies, trichothecene production in this fungus was disabled by specific disruption of the trichodiene synthase gene (Tri5) and was restored by two methods: gene reversion and transformation-mediated mutant complementation. In previous field tests of wheat ear blight, trichothecene-nonproducing mutants were less virulent than the wild-type progenitor strain from which they were derived. Trichothecene-producing revertants also were restored to wild-type levels of virulence. In contrast, in the field test of wheat ear blight reported here, trichothecene-producing strains obtained by Tri5 mutant complementation were not restored to wild-type levels of virulence. The complemented mutants showed a slightly reduced radial growth compared to the wild-type strain, but otherwise appeared normal in morphology, pigmentation and sexual fertility. Genetic analysis indicated that the aberrant virulence of a complemented mutant was likely due to non-target effects that occurred during the process of transforming the trichothecene-nonproducing mutant with Tri5. These results confirm previous findings that trichothecenes contribute to the virulence of G. zeae, but also demonstrate that manipulating this fungus in the laboratory may cause it to undergo subtle changes that reduce its virulence.

Keywords: Gibberella zeae, Fusarium graminearum, trichothecene toxins, wheat ear blight

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. E. Desjardins, D. W. Brown, S.-H. Yun, R. H. Proctor, T. Lee, R. D. Plattner, S.-W. Lu, and B. G. Turgeon Deletion and Complementation of the Mating Type (MAT) Locus of the Wheat Head Blight Pathogen Gibberella zeae Appl. Envir. Microbiol., April 1, 2004; 70(4): 2437 - 2444. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]