Abstract
Fusarium verticillioides is a heterothallic ascomycete causing maize ear rot, and produces fumonisin mycotoxins harmful to livestock and human health. A meiotic drive phenomenon called spore killing has been reported in several filamentous fungi including F. verticillioides. F. verticillioides reference genome strain M-3125 (FGSC 7600) is spore killer sensitive (SK S), and genetic crosses of M-3125 with a strain carrying SK K (the killer element) result in only four viable ascospores per ascus instead of the normal eight ascospores. We sought to identify a strain of F. verticillioides that is SK S and MAT1-2 for use in genetic analysis with M-3125. To accomplish this, we screened 50 F. verticillioides strains from the Fusarium Research Center at The Pennsylvania State University, USA for spore killing. To characterize the mating types of these strains, portions of the MAT locus idiomorphs were amplified using polymerase chain reaction, and genetic crosses were performed. The PCR amplification results show that 18 of the 50 strains are MAT1-2 and 32 are MAT1-1. Genetic crosses between M-3125 and 11 of the 18 MAT1-2 strains produced normal perithecia. Crosses between two (M-8024 and M-7815) of the 11 strains and M-3125 produced perithecia with eight ascospores per ascus, and nine others had only four ascospores per ascus, suggesting that M-8024 and M-7815 are SK S and the other nine are SK K. This study expands our knowledge of mating type and spore killing in F. verticillioides and identifies two SK S, MAT1-2 strains for use in genetic crosses with genome reference strain M-3125.
References
Ádám AL, García-Martínez J, Szűcs EP, Avalos J, Hornok L (2011) The MAT1-2-1 mating-type gene upregulates photo-inducible carotenoid biosynthesis in Fusarium verticillioides. FEMS Microbiol Lett 318:76–83
Bacon CW, Yates IE, Hinton DM, Meredith F (2001) Biological control of Fusarium moniliforme in maize. Environ Health Perspect 109:325–332
Cenis JL (1992) Rapid extraction of fungal DNA for PCR amplification. Nucleic Acids Res 20:2380
Colvin BM, Harrison LR (1992) Fumonisin-induced porcine pulmonary edema and hydrothorax in swine. Mycopathologia 117:79–82
Dirschnabel DE, Nowrousian M, Cano-Domínguez N, Aguirre J, Teichert I, Kück U (2014) New insights into the roles of NADPH oxidases in sexual development and ascospore germination in Sordaria macrospora. Genetics 196:729–744
Geiser D, Jiménez-Gasco MM, Kang S, Makalowska I, Veeraraghavan N, Ward T, Zhang N, Kuldau GA, O’Donnell K (2004) FUSARIUM-ID v. 1.0: a DNA sequence database for identifying Fusarium. Eur J Plant Pathol 110:473–479
Gelderblom WC, Cawood ME, Snyman SD, Marasas WF (1994) Fumonisin B1 dosimetry in relation to cancer initiation in rat liver. Carcinogenesis 15:209–214
Hammond TM, Rehard DG, Xiao H, Shiu PKT (2012) Molecular dissection of Neurospora spore killer meiotic drive elements. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:12093–12098
Hendricks K (1999) Fumonisins and neural tube defects in south Texas. Epidemiology 10:198
Jurgenson JE, Zeller KA, Leslie JF (2002) Expanded genetic map of Gibberella moniliformis (Fusarium verticillioides). Appl Environ Microbiol 68:1972–1979
Kamerewerd J, Jansson M, Nowrousian M, Pöggeler S, Kück U (2008) Three α-subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins and an adenylyl cyclase have distinct roles in fruiting body development in the homothallic fungus Sordaria macrospora. Genetics 180:191–206
Kathariou S, Spieth PT (1982) Spore killer polymorphism in Fusarium moniliforme. Genetics 102:19–24
Kerenyi Z, Zeller K, Hornok L, Leslie JF (1999) Molecular standardization of mating type terminology in the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. Appl Environ Microbiol 4071–4076
Keszthelyi A, Jeney A, Kerényi Z, Mendes O, Waalwijk C, Hornok L (2007) Tagging target genes of the MAT1-2-1 transcription factor in Fusarium verticillioides (Gibberella fujikuroi MP-A). Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 91:373–391
Klittich C, Leslie JF (1988) Nitrate reduction mutants of Fusarium moniliforme (Gibberella fujikuroi). Genetics 118:417–423
Ma LJ, van der Does HC, Borkovich KA, Coleman JJ, Daboussi MJ et al (2010) Comparative genomics reveals mobile pathogenicity chromosomes in Fusarium. Nature 464:367–373
Marasas WF, Kellerman TS, Gelderblom WC, Coetzer JA, Thiel PG, van der Lugt JJ (1988) Leukoencephalomalacia in a horse induced by fumonisin B1 isolated from Fusarium moniliforme. Onderstepoort J Vet Res 55:197–203
McCluskey K, Wiest AE, Grigoriev IV, Lipzen A, Martin J, Schackwitz W, Baker SE (2011) Rediscovery by whole genome sequencing: classical mutations and genome polymorphisms in Neurospora crassa. G3 Genes Genomes Genet 1:303–316
Nowrousian M, Piotrowski M, Kück U (2007) Multiple layers of temporal and spatial control regulate accumulation of the fruiting body-specific protein APP in Sordaria macrospora and Neurospora crassa. Fungal Genet Biol 44:602–614
Ortiz CS, Shim W-B (2013) The role of MADS-box transcription factors in secondary metabolism and sexual development in the maize pathogen Fusarium verticillioides. Microbiology 159:2259–2268
Raju NB (1994) Ascomycete spore killers: chromosomal elements that distort genetic ratios among the products of meiosis. Mycologia 86:461–473
Sikhakolli UR, López-Giráldez F, Li N, Common R, Townsend JP, Trail F (2012) Transcriptome analyses during fruiting body formation in Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium verticillioides reflect species life history and ecology. Fungal Genet Biol 49:663–673
Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD, Coutinho TA, Zeller KA, Wingfield MJ, Marasas WF, Leslie JF (2000) PCR-based identification of MAT-1 and MAT-2 in the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:4378–4382
Turner BC, Perkins DD (1979) Spore killer, a chromosomal factor in Neurospora that kills meiotic products not containing it. Genetics 93:587–606
White DG (ed) (1999) Compendium of corn diseases, 3rd edn. APS Press, St. Paul, 78 p
Xu JR, Leslie JF (1996) A genetic map of Gibberella fujikuroi mating population A (Fusarium moniliforme). Genetics 143:175–189
Yoshizawa T, Yamashita A, Luo Y (1994) Fumonisin occurrence in corn from high- and low-risk areas for human esophageal cancer in China. Appl Environ Microbiol 60:1626–1629
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Jean Juba at the Fusarium Research Center of The Pennsylvania State University for curating and providing all Fusarium verticillioides strains in this study. We are also grateful to Nancy Wenner for providing microscopy and photography assistance.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guo, L., Blatt, A.Z., Geiser, D.M. et al. Mating type and spore killing characterization of Fusarium verticillioides strains. Mycol Progress 14, 16 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-015-1045-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-015-1045-z