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Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites
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Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Cell Biology, Metabolism and Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 2227

Special Issue Editors

Dr. M. Carmen Limón

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
Interests: regulation; fungi; secondary metabolites; carotenoids
Prof. Dr. Javier Avalos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
Interests: regulation; filamentous fungi; carotenoids; terpenoids; secondary metabolites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi are well known for producing a wide variety of secondary metabolites under appropriate environmental conditions or specific stages of development. Their presence in food can be a risk to animals and humans in the case of toxins, while others can offer diverse beneficial uses, ranging from agricultural to medical applications. Furthermore, secondary metabolites may play roles in virulence during infection in animals and plants, as well as signaling in plant interaction and microbial communication.

The genes for the biosynthetic and modifying enzymes, transporters, and specific regulators required to produce these metabolites tend to be clustered in fungal genomes. Furthermore, global regulators control their biosynthesis in response to changes in the fungal environment. There is a multilayered regulation that includes signaling pathways and epigenetic mechanisms. Fungal secondary metabolism is a continuous source of discoveries, both at basic and applied science levels.

Dr. M. Carmen Limón
Prof. Dr. Javier Avalos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • secondary metabolites
  • terpenoids
  • polyketides
  • NRPs
  • antibiotics
  • mycotoxins
  • biosynthesis
  • regulation
  • gene clusters
  • global regulators

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2286 KiB  
Article
Three Genes Involved in Different Signaling Pathways, carS, wcoA, and acyA, Participate in the Regulation of Fusarin Biosynthesis in Fusarium fujikuroi
by Violeta Díaz-Sánchez, Marta Castrillo, Jorge García-Martínez, Javier Avalos and M. Carmen Limón
J. Fungi 2024, 10(3), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10030203 - 08 Mar 2024
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Abstract
The phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium fujikuroi has a rich secondary metabolism which includes the synthesis of very different metabolites in response to diverse environmental cues, such as light or nitrogen. Here, we focused our attention on fusarins, a class of mycotoxins whose synthesis is [...] Read more.
The phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium fujikuroi has a rich secondary metabolism which includes the synthesis of very different metabolites in response to diverse environmental cues, such as light or nitrogen. Here, we focused our attention on fusarins, a class of mycotoxins whose synthesis is downregulated by nitrogen starvation. Previous data showed that mutants of genes involved in carotenoid regulation (carS, encoding a RING finger protein repressor), light detection (wcoA, White Collar photoreceptor), and cAMP signaling (AcyA, adenylate cyclase) affect the synthesis of different metabolites. We studied the effect of these mutations on fusarin production and the expression of the fus1 gene, which encodes the key polyketide synthase of the pathway. We found that the three proteins are positive regulators of fusarin synthesis, especially WcoA and AcyA, linking light regulation to cAMP signaling. Genes for two other photoreceptors, the cryptochrome CryD and the Vivid flavoprotein VvdA, were not involved in fusarin regulation. In most cases, there was a correspondence between fusarin production and fus1 mRNA, indicating that regulation is mainly exerted at the transcriptional level. We conclude that fusarin synthesis is subject to a complex control involving regulators from different signaling pathways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites)
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21 pages, 3276 KiB  
Article
Metabolic Regulation of Two pksCT Gene Transcripts in Monascus ruber Impacts Citrinin Biosynthesis
by Yi He, Lisha Zhu, Xingxing Dong, Aoran Li, Suyin Xu, Liling Wang and Yanchun Shao
J. Fungi 2023, 9(12), 1174; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9121174 - 07 Dec 2023
Viewed by 911
Abstract
Citrinin (CIT), a secondary metabolite produced by the filamentous fungi Monascus species, exhibits nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, and carcinogenic effects in mammals, remarkably restricting the utilization of Monascus-derived products. CIT synthesis is mediated through the pksCT gene and modified by multiple genetic factors. Here, [...] Read more.
Citrinin (CIT), a secondary metabolite produced by the filamentous fungi Monascus species, exhibits nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, and carcinogenic effects in mammals, remarkably restricting the utilization of Monascus-derived products. CIT synthesis is mediated through the pksCT gene and modified by multiple genetic factors. Here, the regulatory effects of two pksCT transcripts, pksCTα, and pksCTβ, generated via pre-mRNA alternative splicing (AS), were investigated using hairpin RNA (ihpRNA) interference, and their impact on CIT biosynthesis and the underlying mechanisms were assessed through chemical biology and transcriptome analyses. The CIT yield in ihpRNA-pksCTα and ihpRNA-pksCT (α + β) transformants decreased from 7.2 μg/mL in the wild-type strain to 3.8 μg/mL and 0.08 μg/mL, respectively. Notably, several genes in the CIT biosynthetic gene cluster, specifically mrl3, mrl5, mrr1, and mrr5 in the ihpRNA-pksCT (α + β) transformant, were downregulated. Transcriptome results revealed that silencing pksCT has a great impact on carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and AS events. The key enzymes in the citrate cycle (TCA cycle) and glycolysis were significantly inhibited in the transformants, leading to a decrease in the production of biosynthetic precursors, such as acetyl-coenzyme-A (acetyl-coA) and malonyl-coenzyme-A (malonyl-coA). Furthermore, the reduction of CIT has a regulatory effect on lipid metabolism via redirecting acetyl-coA from CIT biosynthesis towards lipid biosynthesis. These findings offer insights into the mechanisms underlying CIT biosynthesis and AS in Monascus, thus providing a foundation for future research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites)
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