title: Polyketide synthase genes in insect- and nematode-associated fungi.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Hodge
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Humber
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Krasnoff
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Turgeon
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Yoder
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gibson
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D009097:Multienzyme Complexes