title: The molecular diversity of toxin gene families in lethal Amanita mushrooms.
abstract: Mushrooms in lethal Amanita species are responsible for a large number of food poisoning cases and deaths. However, the diversity of the toxins in these mushrooms remains largely unknown. This study analyzed the gene families of toxins found in 6 lethal Amanitae from Asia and Europe. Fifty-four gene sequences were obtained, accounting for 70.1% of the known MSDIN family members. Of the 54 gene sequences, 20 encode α-amanitin, 5 encode β-amanitin, 16 encode phallacidin, and 13 encode peptides of unknown functions. Bayesian analysis of MSDIN family members identified differences in the number of toxin genes in different toxin families among the Amanita species. Ten of the 13 peptides of unknown functions were closely related to known phallotoxins, while the remaining 3 were similar to amatoxins. The α-AMA tree indicated that there were significant differences between the Amanita and Galerina species. However, both the α-AMA and PHA trees showed that these toxin genes have similar upstream and downstream motif sequences among the Amanita species. This study greatly enriches the available diversity information regarding toxin gene families in lethal Amanita mushrooms, and could lay a strong foundation for further research about the evolution of Amanita toxin genes.
authors.affiliation: School of Bioscience & Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, South China (The Ministry-Province Joint Development), Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou 510070, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, South China (The Ministry-Province Joint Development), Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou 510070, China.
authors.forename: Wangqiu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: School of Bioscience & Bioengineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, South China (The Ministry-Province Joint Development), Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou 510070, China. Electronic address: mycolab@263.net.
authors.forename: Taihui
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D053959:Alpha-Amanitin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000545:Amanita / Q000235:genetics*; D000546:Amanitins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D053959:Alpha-Amanitin; D000546:Amanitins; D005656:Fungal Proteins
keywords: Diversity; Gene family; Peptide toxin; Phallacidin; α-amanitin