RNA-seq of Fusarium graminearum in response to pregnenolone treatment
This study aims to investigate the global transcriptional response of the devastating wheat pathogen Fusarium graminearum (strain PH-1) to pregnenolone, a steroidal compound that strongly inhibits asexual sporulation (conidiation) without affecting vegetative growth. RNA-seq was performed on wild-type PH-1 cultures grown in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) medium for 72 hours, with or without 10 mg/L pregnenolone treatment, using three biological replicates per condition. The primary goals are to identify differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways that underlie pregnenolone-mediated suppression of conidiation, with a focus on sterol metabolism and developmental regulation. This dataset provides insights into a novel sterol-derived signaling mechanism linking primary metabolism to fungal morphogenesis, and supports the development of targeted strategies to disrupt conidial production, thereby reducing the primary inoculum for Fusarium head blight epidemics and improving crop protection.