Polyketide synthase genes in insect- and nematode-associated fungi.
Production of polyketides is accomplished through complex enzymes known as polyketide synthases (PKS); these enzymes have highly conserved domains that might be useful in screens for PKSs in diverse groups of organisms. A degenerate PCR-based approach was used to amplify PKS fragments of the ketosynthase domain from genomic DNA of a group of insect- and nematode-associated fungi. Of 157 isolates (representing 73 genera and 144 species) screened, 92 isolates generated PCR products of predicted size (approximately 300 bp). The ability to detect PKS domains was a function of the number of different primer pairs employed in the screen. Cloning and sequencing revealed that 66 isolates had at least one unique PKS sequence; ten members of this set contained multiple PKS fragments, for a total of 76 unique PKS fragments. Since PKS genes appear to be widespread among fungi, a PCR-based screening system appears to be an efficient, directed means to identify organisms having the potential to produce polyketides.
Lee
T
T
Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Yun
S H
SH
Hodge
K T
KT
Humber
R A
RA
Krasnoff
S B
SB
Turgeon
G B
GB
Yoder
O C
OC
Gibson
D M
DM
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005658:Fungi / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D009348:Nematoda / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D009097:Multienzyme Complexes