Transcriptional regulation of enniatins production by Fusarium avenaceum

Aims: The aim of this study was to analyse the transcriptional regulation of enniatins (ENs) production in Fusarium avenaceum. Methods and Results: We develop a new method to quantify ENs in FDM agar medium. We performed an LC/MS/MS analysis to evaluate enniatin A, A1, B, B1 and B4 production by seven F. avenaceum strains and, in a time-course experiment, by ITEM 3404 to analyse the transcriptional regulation of the esyn1 gene. The expression profile, achieved by Real time reverse transcriptase assay, showed an activation of gene transcription at the seventh day of incubation, corresponding to the higher increase of total ENs production. Enniatin B was the most abundant ENs analogues, representing the 90% of total ENs. The relative percentage of ENs remained unaltered during the experiment. Conclusions: We reported a transcriptional regulation of esyn1 responsible for the modulation of ENs biosynthesis. Significance and Impact of the Study: Enniatins are cyclic depsipeptides metabolites with a wide range of biological activities. They are also widespread contaminants in grains and cereals due to infection by enniatin-producing Fusarium species. This is the first article describing the transcriptional regulation of esyn1 gene that modulates ENs production in Fusarium avenaceum and provides new knowledge about the molecular mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of these important fungal metabolites in this toxigenic fungal species. © 2013 The Society for Applied Microbiology.