title: Creating and screening Cochliobolus heterostrophus non-ribosomal peptide synthetase mutants.
abstract: An exhaustive characterization of the set of non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) genes of the corn pathogen, Cochliobolus heterostrophus, and the small molecule peptides produced by the enzymes they encode, has been undertaken to ascertain the role of the peptide metabolites in the fungal cell. To date, the NRPS method of peptide biosynthesis has been described for filamentous ascomycete fungi (and to a limited extent, for basidiomycete fungi) and for bacteria, only. In addition to structural diversity, non-ribosomal peptides have a broad spectrum of biological activities, many are useful in medicine, agriculture, industry, and biological research. However, to suggest that inter-organismal activities is their primary function is likely incorrect; in fact, the physiological significance of these peptides to the producing fungi is largely unknown. We document that NRPS enzymes are purveyors of small molecules for both basal metabolism and for specialized environmental niches and that some are conserved, but most are not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, 334 Plant Science Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. bgtl@cornell.edu
authors.forename: B Gillian
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Turgeon
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oide
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bushley
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D005810:Multigene Family; D046908:Peptide Biosynthesis, Nucleic Acid-Independent; D010453:Peptide Synthases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D014774:Virulence; D003313:Zea mays / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D010453:Peptide Synthases; C104385:non-ribosomal peptide synthase