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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2009, p. 405-413, Vol. 75, No. 2
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01089-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Regulation of Carotenogenesis and Secondary Metabolism by Nitrogen in Wild-Type Fusarium fujikuroi and Carotenoid-Overproducing Mutants{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Roberto Rodríguez-Ortiz, M. Carmen Limón, and Javier Avalos*

Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, University of Seville, E-41012 Seville, Spain

Received 15 May 2008/ Accepted 17 November 2008

The fungus Fusarium fujikuroi (Gibberella fujikuroi MP-C) produces metabolites of biotechnological interest, such as gibberellins, bikaverins, and carotenoids. Gibberellin and bikaverin productions are induced upon nitrogen exhaustion, while carotenoid accumulation is stimulated by light. We evaluated the effect of nitrogen availability on carotenogenesis in comparison with bikaverin and gibberellin production in the wild type and in carotenoid-overproducing mutants (carS). Nitrogen starvation increased carotenoid accumulation in all strains tested. In carS strains, gibberellin and bikaverin biosynthesis patterns differed from those of the wild type and paralleled the expression of key genes for both pathways, coding for geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) and kaurene synthases for the former and a polyketide synthase for the latter. These results suggest regulatory connections between carotenoid biosynthesis and nitrogen-controlled biosynthetic pathways in this fungus. Expression of gene ggs1, which encodes a second GGPP synthase, was also derepressed in the carS mutants, suggesting the participation of Ggs1 in carotenoid biosynthesis. The carS mutations did not affect genes for earlier steps of the terpenoid pathway, such as fppS or hmgR. Light induced carotenoid biosynthesis in the wild type and carRA and carB levels in the wild-type and carS strains irrespective of nitrogen availability.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Genética, Universidad de Sevilla, Apartado 1095, E-41080 Seville, Spain. Phone: 34-954557110. Fax: 34-954557104. E-mail: avalos{at}us.es

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 1 December 2008.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2009, p. 405-413, Vol. 75, No. 2
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01089-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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