title: The Fusarium graminearum genome reveals more secondary metabolite gene clusters and hints of horizontal gene transfer.
abstract: Fungal secondary metabolite biosynthesis genes are of major interest due to the pharmacological properties of their products (like mycotoxins and antibiotics). The genome of the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum codes for a large number of candidate enzymes involved in secondary metabolite biosynthesis. However, the chemical nature of most enzymatic products of proteins encoded by putative secondary metabolism biosynthetic genes is largely unknown. Based on our analysis we present 67 gene clusters with significant enrichment of predicted secondary metabolism related enzymatic functions. 20 gene clusters with unknown metabolites exhibit strong gene expression correlation in planta and presumably play a role in virulence. Furthermore, the identification of conserved and over-represented putative transcription factor binding sites serves as additional evidence for cluster co-regulation. Orthologous cluster search provided insight into the evolution of secondary metabolism clusters. Some clusters are characteristic for the Fusarium phylum while others show evidence of horizontal gene transfer as orthologs can be found in representatives of the Botrytis or Cochliobolus lineage. The presented candidate clusters provide valuable targets for experimental examination.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian M K
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sieber
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany; Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Wanseon
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Münsterkötter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany; Department of Genome Oriented Bioinformatics, Technische Universität München, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Werner
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Mewes
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Tulln, Austria.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmeitzl
authors.affiliation: Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Metabolism and Center for Analytical Chemistry, Department for Agrobiotechnology (IFA-Tulln), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Tulln, Austria.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.affiliation: Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Metabolism and Center for Analytical Chemistry, Department for Agrobiotechnology (IFA-Tulln), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Tulln, Austria.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berthiller
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Tulln, Austria.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany; Department of Genome Oriented Bioinformatics, Technische Universität München, Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Güldener
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005670:Fusarium / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D005810:Multigene Family; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D064210:Secondary Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*