Transcriptomic Responses of Fusarium verticillioides to Lactam and Lactone Xenobiotics

The important cereal crops of maize, rye, and wheat constitutively produce precursors to 2-benzoxazolinone, a phytochemical having antifungal effects towards many Fusarium species. However, verticillioides can tolerate 2-benzoxazolinone by converting it into non-toxic metabolites through the synergism two previously identified gene clusters, FDB1 FDB2 . Inspired induction these clusters upon exposure RNA sequencing experiments were carried out challenging F. individually with three related chemical compounds, 2-oxindole, 2-coumaranone, chlorzoxazone. These compounds all contain lactam and/or lactone moieties, transcriptional analysis provided inferences regarding degradation such lactams lactones. Besides four additional as induced exposure, including cluster thought be responsible for biosynthesis pyridoxine (vitamin B6), known antioxidant providing tolerance reactive oxygen Three putative Interestingly, 2-oxindole each specific similar composition enzymatic functions. Exposure 2-coumranone elicited expression fusaric acid biosynthetic cluster. Another that may encode enzymes degrading intermediate catabolic carboxylic ester bonds was Also, dehalogenase encoding during chlorzoxazone suggested its role in removal chlorine atom. Together, this work identifies genes responsive 2-benzoxazolinone-like metabolic inferences. Potential targets future functional analyses are discussed.