The reducing clade IIb polyketide synthase PKS14 acts as a virulence determinant of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana.

The reducing clade IIb polyketide synthase gene, pks14, is preserved throughout the evolution of entomopathogenic fungi. We examined the functions of pks14 in Beauveria bassiana using targeted gene disruption, and pks14 disruption was verified by Southern blot and PCR analyses. The radial growth, cell dry weight and conidial germination of Δpks14 were comparable to that of the wild type. Our sequence and gene expression analyses of the pks14 biosynthetic cluster demonstrated: (i) cotranscription and constitutive expression of nearly all the genes of the aforementioned cluster including the C2H2 zinc finger transcription regulator gene, but not pks14 and the cytochrome P450 gene; (ii) expression of the pks14 gene in the insect-containing culture condition only; and (iii) a KAR9-like gene in direct proximity with pks14 is the only gene showing co-regulation. The Δpks14-infected Spodoptera exigua larvae survived significantly longer than those infected by the wild type, indicating a marked reduction in the virulence of Δpks14 against the insect. LT50 of Δpks14 was increased by 1.55 days. Hyphal body formation was decreased in the hemolymph of insects infected by Δpks14 as compared with those inoculated by the wild type. Our results suggest that PKS14-catalyzed polyketide enhances virulence and pathogenicity of B. bassiana on insects.

Culture degeneration in conidia of Beauveria bassiana and virulence determinants by proteomics.

The quality of Beauveria bassiana conidia directly affects the virulence against insects. In this study, continuous subculturing of B. bassiana on both rice grains and potato dextrose agar (PDA) resulted in 55 and 49 % conidial yield reduction after 12 passages and 68 and 60 % virulence reduction after 20 and 12 passages at four d post-inoculation, respectively. The passage through Tenebrio molitor and Spodoptera exigua restored the virulence of rice and PDA subcultures, respectively. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the conidial quality and the decline of virulence after multiple subculturing, we investigated the conidial proteomic changes. Successive subculturing markedly increased the protein levels in oxidative stress response, autophagy, amino acid homeostasis, and apoptosis, but decreased the protein levels in DNA repair, ribosome biogenesis, energy metabolism, and virulence. The nitro blue tetrazolium assay verified that the late subculture's colony and conidia had a higher oxidative stress level than the early subculture. A 2A-type protein phosphatase and a Pleckstrin homology domain protein Slm1, effector proteins of the target of rapamycin (TOR) complex 1 and 2, respectively, were dramatically increased in the late subculture. These results suggest that TOR signalling might be associated with ageing in B. bassiana late subculture, in turn affecting its physiological characteristics and virulence.

Targeted disruption of the polyketide synthase gene pks15 affects virulence against insects and phagocytic survival in the fungus Beauveria bassiana.

The reducing clade III polyketide synthase genes, including pks15, are highly conserved among entomopathogenic fungi. To examine the function of pks15, we used targeted disruption to investigate the impact of Beauveria bassiana pks15 on insect pathogenesis. Southern analysis verified that the Δpks15 mutant was disrupted by a single integration of the transformation cassette at the pks15 locus. The Δpks15 mutant had a slight reduction in radial growth, and it produced fewer spores. Our insect bioassays indicated the Δpks15 mutant to be significantly reduced in virulence against beet armyworms compared to wild type (WT), which could be partially accounted for by its markedly decreased ability to survive phagocytosis. Total haemocyte count decreased sharply by 50-fold from days 1-3 post-inoculation in insects infected with WT, compared to a 5-fold decrease in the Δpks15 mutant. The mutant also produced fewer hemolymph hyphal bodies than WT by 3-fold. In co-culture studies with amoebae that have phagocytic ability similar to that of insect haemocytes, at 48 h the mortality rate of amoebae engulfing Δpks15 decreased by 72 %, and Δpks15 CFU decreased by 83 % compared to co-culture with WT. Thus, the Δpks15 mutant had a reduced ability to cope with phagocytosis and highly reduced virulence in an insect host. These data elucidate a mechanism of insect pathogenesis associated with polyketide biosynthesis.

Phylogeny of type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) in fungal entomopathogens and expression analysis of PKS genes in Beauveria bassiana BCC 2660.

Entomopathogenic fungi are able to invade and kill insects. Various secondary metabolites can mediate the interaction of a fungal pathogen with an insect host and also help the fungus compete with other microbes. Here we screened 23 isolates of entomopathogenic fungi for polyketide synthase (PKS) genes and amplified 72 PKS gene fragments using degenerate PCR. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of conserved ketosynthase and acyltransferase regions in these 72 sequences and 72 PKSs identified from four insect fungal genome sequences. The resulting genealogy indicated 47 orthologous groups with 99-100 % bootstrap support, suggesting shared biosynthesis of identical or closely related compounds from different fungi. Three insect-specific groups were identified among the PKSs in reducing clades IIa, IIb, and III, which comprised PKSs from 12, 9, and 30 fungal isolates, respectively. A IIa-IIb pair could be found in seven fungi. Expression analyses revealed that eleven out of twelve PKS genes identified in Beauveria bassiana BCC 2660 were expressed in culture. PKS genes from insect-specific clades IIa and IIb were expressed only in insect-containing medium, while others were expressed only in PDB or in CYB, PDB and SDY. The data suggest the potential production of several polyketides in culture.

Tenellin acts as an iron chelator to prevent iron-generated reactive oxygen species toxicity in the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana.

Iron is an essential element for life. However, the iron overload can be toxic. Here, we investigated the significant increase of tenellin and iron-tenellin complex production in ferricrocin-deficient mutants of Beauveria bassiana. Our chemical analysis indicated that the ferricrocin-deficient mutants T1, T3 and T5 nearly abolished ferricrocin production. In turn, these mutants had significant accumulation of iron-tenellin complex in their mycelia at 247-289 mg g(-1) cell dry weight under iron-replete condition. Both tenellin and iron-tenellin complex were not detected in the wild-type under such condition. Mass analysis of the mutants' crude extracts demonstrated that tenellin formed a 3:1 complex with iron in the absence of ferricrocin. The unexpected link between ferricrocin and tenellin biosynthesis in ferricrocin-deficient mutants could be a survival strategy during iron-mediated oxidative stress.

Assessing medium constituents for optimal heterologous production of anhydromevalonolactone in recombinant Aspergillus oryzae.

Anhydromevalonolactone (AMVL) is a bioactive natural product that arises from a molecular biology technique using Aspergillus oryzae as a heterologous host. AMVL has been used as a precursor for the synthesis of insect pest control reagents and has numerous applications in the biotechnological and medical industries. In this study, the Plackett-Burman Design and the Central Composite Design, which offer efficient and feasible approaches, were complemented to screen significant parameters and identify the optimal values for maximum AMVL production. The results suggested that sucrose, NaNO3, yeast extract and K2HPO4 were the key factors affecting AMVL production in a complex medium, whereas the major components required for a defined medium were NaNO3, K2HPO4, KH2PO4 and trace elements. These factors were subsequently optimized using the response surface methodology. Under optimal conditions, a maximum AMVL production of 250 mg/L in the complex medium and 200 mg/L in the defined medium was achieved, which represents an increase of approximately 3-4-fold compared to the commonly used malt extract medium.

Functional expression of a foreign gene in Aspergillus oryzae producing new pyrone compounds.

Fungi from the genus Xylaria produce a wide range of polyketides with diverse structures, which provide important sources for pharmaceutical agents. At least seven polyketide synthase (PKS) genes, including pksmt, were found in Xylaria sp. BCC 1067. The multifunctional enzyme pksmt contains the following catalytic motifs: ß-ketosynthase (KS), acyltransferase (AT), dehydratase (DH), methyltransferase (MT), enoylreductase (ER), ketoreductase (KR), and acyl carrier region (ACP). The presence of multiple domains indicated that pksmt was an iterative type I highly-reduced-type PKS gene. To identify the gene function, pksmt was fused with a gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) and introduced into a surrogate host, Aspergillus oryzae, and expressed under the control of a constitutive gpdA promoter. In the transformant, the pksmt gene was functionally expressed and translated as detected by a green fluorescence signal. This transformant produced two new 2-pyrone compounds, 4-(hydroxymethyl)-5,6-dihydro-pyran-2-one and 5-hydroxy-4-methyl-5,6-dihydro-pyran-2-one, as well as a previously identified 4-methyl-5,6-dihydro-pyran-2-one. Our results suggested that pksmt from Xylaria sp. BCC 1067 represents a family of fungal PKSs that can synthesize 2-pyrone-containing compounds.

Biosynthesis of xyrrolin, a new cytotoxic hybrid polyketide/non-ribosomal peptide pyrroline with anticancer potential, in Xylaria sp. BCC 1067.

A gene from Xylaria sp. BCC 1067, pks3, that encodes a putative 3660-residue hybrid polyketide synthase (PKS)/non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) was characterised by targeted gene disruption in combination with comprehensive product identification. Studies of the features of a corresponding mutant, YA3, allowed us to demonstrate that pks3 is responsible for the synthesis of a new pyrroline compound, named xyrrolin, in the wild-type Xylaria sp. BCC 1067. The structure of xyrrolin was established by extensive spectroscopic and spectrometric analyses, including low- and high-resolution MS, IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, (13)C NMR with Dept135, HMQC 2D NMR, HMBC 2D NMR and COSY 2D NMR. On the basis of the Pks3 domain organisation and the chemical structure of xyrrolin, we proposed that biosynthesis of this compound requires the condensation of a tetraketide and an L-serine unit, followed by Dieckmann or reductive cyclisation and enzymatic removal of ketone residue(s). Bioassays of the pure xyrrolin further displayed cytotoxicity against an oral cavity (KB) cancer cell line.

Identification of the nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene responsible for bassianolide synthesis in wood-decaying fungus Xylaria sp. BCC1067.

Intensive study of gene diversity of bioactive compounds in a wood-rot fungus, Xylaria sp. BCC1067, has made it possible to identify polyketides and nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) unaccounted for by conventional chemical screening methods. Here we report the complete nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene responsible for the biosynthesis of an NRP, bassianolide, using a genetic approach. Isolation of the bassianolide biosynthetic gene, nrpsxy, was achieved using degenerate primers specific to the adenylation domain of NRPS. The complete ORF of nrpsxy is 10.6 kb in length. Based on comparisons with other known NRPSs, the domain arrangement of NRPSXY is most likely to be C-A-T-C-A-M-T-T-C-R. The other ORF found upstream of nrpsxy, designated efxy, is 1.8 kb in length and shows high similarity to members of the major facilitator superfamily of transporters. Functional analysis of the nrpsxy gene was conducted by gene disruption, and the missing metabolite in the mutant was identified. Chemical analysis revealed the structure of the metabolite to be a cyclooctadepsipeptide, bassianolide, which has been found in other fungi. A bioassay of bassianolide revealed a wide range of biological activities other than insecticidal uses, which have been previously reported, thus making bassianolide an interesting candidate for future structural modification. This study is the first evidence for a gene involved in the biosynthesis of bassianolide.

Diversity of type I polyketide synthase genes in the wood-decay fungus Xylaria sp. BCC 1067.

Fungal type I polyketide (PK) compounds are highly valuable for medical treatment and extremely diverse in structure, partly because of the enzymatic activities of reducing domains in polyketide synthases (PKSs). We have cloned several PKS genes from the fungus Xylaria sp. BCC 1067, which produces two polyketides: depudecin (reduced PK) and 19,20-epoxycytochalasin Q (PK-nonribosomal peptide (NRP) hybrid). Two new degenerate primer sets, KA-series and XKS, were designed to amplify reducing PKS and PKS-NRP synthetase hybrid genes, respectively. Five putative PKS genes were amplified in Xylaria using KA-series primers and two more with the XKS primers. All seven are predicted to encode proteins homologous to highly reduced (HR)-type PKSs. Previously designed primers in LC-, KS-, and MT-series identified four additional PKS gene fragments. Selected PKS fragments were used as probes to identify PKS genes from the genomic library of this fungus. Full-length sequences for five PKS genes were obtained: pks12, pks3, pksKA1, pksMT, and pksX1. They are structurally diverse with 1-9 putative introns and products ranging from 2162 to 3654 amino acids in length. The finding of 11 distinct PKS genes solely by means of PCR cloning supports that PKS genes are highly diverse in fungi. It also indicates that our KA-series primers can serve as powerful tools to reveal the genetic potential of fungi in production of multiple types of HR PKs, which the conventional compound screening could underestimate.