Mechanism Insights into the Enantioselective Bioactivity and Fumonisin Biosynthesis of Mefentrifluconazole to Fusarium verticillioides

The occurrence of maize ear rot caused by Fusarium verticillioides (F. verticillioides) poses a threat to the yield and quality of maize. Mefentrifluconazole enantiomers appear to have strong stereoselective activity against F. verticillioides and cause differences in fumonisin production. We evaluated the stereoselective activity of mefentrifluconazole enantiomers by determining inhibition of the strain, hyphae, and conidia. Strain inhibition by R-(-)-mefentrifluconazole was 241 times higher than S-(+)-mefentrifluconazole and 376 times higher in conidia inhibition. For the mechanism of the enantioselective bioactivity, R-mefentrifluconazole had stronger binding to proteins than S-(+)-mefentrifluconazole. Under several concentration conditions, the fumonisin concentration was 1.3-24.9-fold higher in the R-(-)-mefentrifluconazole treatment than in the S-(+)-mefentrifluconazole treatment. The R-enantiomer stimulated fumonisin despite a higher bioactivity. As the incubation time increased, the stimulation of the enantiomers on fumonisin production decreased. R-(-)-Mefentrifluconazole stimulated higher fumonisin production in F. verticillioides at 25 °C compared to 30 °C. This study established a foundation for the development of high-efficiency and low-risk pesticides.

FvKex2 is required for development, virulence, and mycotoxin production in Fusarium verticillioides

Fusarium verticillioides is one of the most important fungal pathogens causing maize ear and stalk rots, thereby undermining global food security. Infected seeds are usually unhealthy for consumption due to contamination with fumonisin B1 (FB1) mycotoxin produced by the fungus as a virulence factor. Unveiling the molecular factors that determine fungal development and pathogenesis will help in the control and management of the diseases. Kex2 is a kexin-like Golgi-resident proprotein convertase that is involved in the activation of some important proproteins. Herein, we identified and functionally characterized FvKex2 in relation to F. verticillioides development and virulence by bioinformatics and functional genomics approaches. We found that FvKex2 is required for the fungal normal vegetative growth, because the growth of the ∆Fvkex2 mutant was significantly reduced on culture media compared to the wild-type and complemented strains. The mutant also produced very few conidia with morphologically abnormal shapes when compared with those from the wild type. However, the kexin-like protein was dispensable for the male role in sexual reproduction in F. verticillioides. In contrast, pathogenicity was nearly abolished on wounded maize stalks and sugarcane leaves in the absence of FvKEX2 gene, suggesting an essential role of Fvkex2 in the virulence of F. verticillioides. Furthermore, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the ∆Fvkex2 mutant produced a significantly lower level of FB1 mycotoxin compared to the wild-type and complemented strains, consistent with the loss of virulence observed in the mutant. Taken together, our results indicate that FvKex2 is critical for vegetative growth, FB1 biosynthesis, and virulence, but dispensable for sexual reproduction in F. verticillioides. The study presents the kexin-like protein as a potential drug target for the management of the devastating maize ear and stalk rot diseases. Further studies should aim at uncovering the link between FvKex2 activity and FB1 biosynthesis genes. KEY POINTS: •The kexin-like protein FvKex2 contributes significantly to the vegetative growth of Fusarium verticillioides. •The conserved protein is required for fungal conidiation and conidial morphology, but dispensable for sexual reproduction. •Deletion of FvKEX2 greatly attenuates the virulence and mycotoxin production potential of F. verticillioides.

verticillioides, Aspergillus flavus) and Minor Toxigenic Fungi (Fusarium spp.) as Well as to Toxin Accumulation, Trends, and Solutions-A Review

Maize is the crop which is most commonly exposed to toxigenic fungi that produce many toxins that are harmful to humans and animals alike. Preharvest grain yield loss, preharvest toxin contamination (at harvest), and storage loss are estimated to be between 220 and 265 million metric tons. In the past ten years, the preharvest mycotoxin damage was stable or increased mainly in aflatoxin and fumonisins. The presence of multiple toxins is characteristic. The few breeding programs concentrate on one of the three main toxigenic fungi. About 90% of the experiments except AFB1 rarely test toxin contamination. As disease resistance and resistance to toxin contamination often differ in regard to F. graminearum, F. verticillioides, and A. flavus and their toxins, it is not possible to make a food safety evaluation according to symptom severity alone. The inheritance of the resistance is polygenic, often mixed with epistatic and additive effects, but only a minor part of their phenotypic variation can be explained. All tests are made by a single inoculum (pure isolate or mixture). Genotype ranking differs between isolates and according to aggressiveness level; therefore, the reliability of such resistance data is often problematic. Silk channel inoculation often causes lower ear rot severity than we find in kernel resistance tests. These explain the slow progress and raise skepticism towards resistance breeding. On the other hand, during genetic research, several effective putative resistance genes were identified, and some overlapped with known QTLs. QTLs were identified as securing specific or general resistance to different toxicogenic species. Hybrids were identified with good disease and toxin resistance to the three toxigenic species. Resistance and toxin differences were often tenfold or higher, allowing for the introduction of the resistance and resistance to toxin accumulation tests in the variety testing and the evaluation of the food safety risks of the hybrids within 2-3 years. Beyond this, resistance breeding programs and genetic investigations (QTL-analyses, GWAM tests, etc.) can be improved. All other research may use it with success, where artificial inoculation is necessary. The multi-toxin data reveal more toxins than we can treat now. Their control is not solved. As limits for nonregulated toxins can be introduced, or the existing regulations can be made to be stricter, the research should start. We should mention that a higher resistance to F. verticillioides and A. flavus can be very useful to balance the detrimental effect of hotter and dryer seasons on aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination. This is a new aspect to secure food and feed safety under otherwise damaging climatic conditions. The more resistant hybrids are to the three main agents, the more likely we are to reduce the toxin losses mentioned by about 50% or higher.

First Report of Fusarium verticillioides Causing Fusarium Ear Rot of Corn in Jordan

Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) is one of the most popular crops grown in Jordan. Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) is a major pathogen of corn and a producer of mycotoxin fumonisins (Blacutt et al. 2018). During September and October 2019, ear rot symptoms were observed on ̴30% of the sweet corn variety Mis Dolce grown in the Jordan Valley. The disease caused substantial losses, including damage to greater than 50% of the kernels within 15-20 days after harvesting. A total of 350-corn kernels were randomly taken from 70 plants distributed in five fields with a total area of 2 ha. About 35% of the samples showed typical symptoms of the disease. Discolored corn kernels were surface sterilized with 5% NaOCl solution for 1 min, then rinsed three times with sterilized distilled water (SDW), plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25°C, and incubated in the dark for 7 days. Twelve putative isolates of the genus Fusarium were hyphal-tipped on new PDA plates. Isolates were cultured on synthetic low-nutrient agar (SNA) with a ca. 1 × 2-cm strip of sterile filter paper on the agar surface (Nirenberg 1976). Cultures were incubated for 10 to 14 days at 20°C in dark conditions. When sporulation was observed, agar blocks were mounted on a microscopic slide with a drop of lactophenol cotton blue and examined under the microscope at 400x. Colonies grew rapidly with abundant pink to violet aerial hyphae. Sporodochia formed on the agar, and the aerial conidiophores branched sparsely, often alternately or oppositely, terminating with up to three verticillate phialides. Macroconidia were abundant, falcate to straight, three- to five-septate, with a distinct foot cell, 27 to 73 × 3.1 to 5.6 μm. Microconidia produced on polyphialides and aggregating in heads, were unicellular, ovoidal, or ellipsoidal, 4.4 to 17 × 1.5 to 4.5 μm (Fig. 1A, B, C, D, E, and F). Based on morphological characteristics, isolates were tentatively identified as F. verticillioides (Al-Hatmi et al. 2016; Guarro 2013). Two representative isolates were DNA extracted and the translation elongation factor 1-α gene (TEF1) was amplified (O'Donnell et al. 1998), and sequenced from both directions at Macrogen Inc, South Korea. The consensus sequences of the two isolates Fvcorn2021JO-03 (OK040159) and Fvcorn2021JO-04 (OK040160) were used as BLASTn query on the NCBI website and were 100% and 99% similar with F. verticilloides JF740717 and JF740737 accessions, respectively. Similarly, the two isolates were 100% and 99.85% similar with F. verticilloides reference sequences MH582332 and MH582327 on the Fusarium MLST database, respectively. The pathogenicity of the two isolates was tested on 15 cobs by injecting 2 ml of a 2.5 × 105 conidia/ml suspension into the silk channel and into kernel wounds of the primary ear (three replicates) for each treatment (Reid and Hamilton 1996). Inoculated kernels were incubated at 25°C for 2 weeks in plastic boxes. The healthy kernels were injected with 2 ml of SDW as a negative control. Grains started to rot after 2 weeks, in the form of a thick, cottony, crimson-looking growth between the ear and its covers, with only some grains or a group of a adjacent grains rotting, and then white lines appear on the outer skin of the grain, yielding symptoms similar to those in the field (Fig. 2A, B, C, and D). The fungus was re-isolated from the inoculated kernels and was morphologically identified as F. verticilloides thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. The fumonisins-producing potential of the isolated F. verticillioides was confirmed using the AgroQuant Total Fumonisins Assay (Romer Labs, Singapore). To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. verticillioides causing Fusarium ear rot on corn in Jordan. Further investigation is needed to gain a better understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of this novel pathogen.

Fusarium verticillioides Induces Maize-Derived Ethylene to Promote Virulence by Engaging Fungal G-Protein Signaling

Seed maceration and contamination with mycotoxin fumonisin inflicted by Fusarium verticillioides is a major disease concern for maize producers worldwide. Meta-analyses of quantitative trait loci for Fusarium ear rot resistance uncovered several ethylene (ET) biosynthesis and signaling genes within them, implicating ET in maize interactions with F. verticillioides. We tested this hypothesis using maize knockout mutants of the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthases ZmACS2 and ZmACS6. Infected wild-type seed emitted five-fold higher ET levels compared with controls, whereas ET was abolished in the acs2 and acs6 single and double mutants. The mutants supported reduced fungal biomass, conidia, and fumonisin content. Normal susceptibility was restored in the acs6 mutant with exogenous treatment of ET precursor ACC. Subsequently, we showed that fungal G-protein signaling is required for virulence via induction of maize-produced ET. F. verticillioides G_β subunit and two regulators of G-protein signaling mutants displayed reduced seed colonization and decreased ET levels. These defects were rescued by exogenous application of ACC. We concluded that pathogen-induced ET facilitates F. verticillioides colonization of seed, and, in turn, host ET production is manipulated via G-protein signaling of F. verticillioides to facilitate pathogenesis.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Fusarium verticillioides FvPex8 Is a Key Component of the Peroxisomal Docking/Translocation Module That Serves Important Roles in Fumonisin Biosynthesis but Not in Virulence

Peroxisomes are ubiquitous organelles in eukaryotes that fulfill various important metabolic functions. In this study, we investigated the role of docking/translocation module (DTM) peroxins, mainly FvPex8, FvPex13, FvPex14, and FvPex33, in Fusarium verticillioides development, virulence, and fumonisin B₁ (FB₁) biosynthesis. Protein interaction experiments suggested that FvPex13 serves as the central DTM subunit in F. verticillioides. Notably, FvPex8 and FvPex14 did not show direct interaction in our experiments. We generated gene-deletion mutants (ΔFvpex8, ΔFvpex13, ΔFvpex14, ΔFvpex33, ΔFvpex33/14) and further examined the functional role of these peroxins. Deletion mutants exhibited disparity in carbon nutrient utilization and defect in cell-wall integrity when stress agents were applied. Under nutrient starvation, mutants also showed higher levels of lipid droplet accumulation. Particularly, ΔFvpex8 mutant showed significant FB₁ reduction and altered expression of key FB₁ biosynthesis genes. However, FvPex13 was primarily responsible for asexual conidia reproduction and virulence, while the ΔFvpex33/14 double mutant also showed a virulence defect. In summary, our study suggests that FvPex13 is the central component of DTM, with direct physical interaction with other DTM peroxins, and regulates peroxisome membrane biogenesis as well as PTS1- and PTS2-mediated transmembrane cargo transportation. Importantly, we also characterized FvPex8 as a key component in F. verticillioides DTM that affects peroxisome function and FB₁ biosynthesis.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Effect of Temperature, Water Activity and Carbon Dioxide on Fungal Growth and Mycotoxin Production of Acclimatised Isolates of Fusarium verticillioides and F. graminearum

Climate change is primarily manifested by elevated temperature and carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels and is projected to provide suitable cultivation grounds for pests and pathogens in the otherwise unsuitable regions. The impacts of climate change have been predicted in many parts of the world, which could threaten global food safety and food security. The aim of the present work was therefore to examine the interacting effects of water activity (a_w) (0.92, 0.95, 0.98 a_w), CO₂ (400, 800, 1200 ppm) and temperature (30, 35 °C and 30, 33 °C for Fusarium verticillioides and F. graminearum, respectively) on fungal growth and mycotoxin production of acclimatised isolates of F. verticillioides and F. graminearum isolated from maize. To determine fungal growth, the colony diameters were measured on days 1, 3, 5, and 7. The mycotoxins produced were quantified using a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (QTOF-MS) combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system. For F. verticillioides, the optimum conditions for growth of fumonisin B₁ (FB₁), and fumonisin B₂ (FB₂) were 30 °C + 0.98 a_w + 400 ppm CO₂. These conditions were also optimum for F. graminearum growth, and zearalenone (ZEA) and deoxynivalenol (DON) production. Since 30 °C and 400 ppm CO₂ were the baseline treatments, it was hence concluded that the elevated temperature and CO₂ levels tested did not seem to significantly impact fungal growth and mycotoxin production of acclimatised Fusarium isolates. To the best of our knowledge thus far, the present work described for the first time the effects of simulated climate change conditions on fungal growth and mycotoxin production of acclimatised isolates of F. verticillioides and F. graminearum.

Is Quorum Signaling by Mycotoxins a New Risk-Mitigating Strategy for Bacterial Biocontrol of Fusarium verticillioides and Other Endophytic Fungal Species?

Bacterial endophytes are used as biocontrol organisms for plant pathogens such as the maize endophyte Fusarium verticillioides and its production of fumonisin mycotoxins. However, such applications are not always predictable and efficient. In this work, we hypothesize and review work that quorum sensing inhibitors are produced either by fungi or by pathogenic bacteria for competitive purposes, altering the efficiency of the biocontrol organisms. Recently, quorum sensing inhibitors have been isolated from several fungi, including Fusarium species, three of which are mycotoxins. Thus, we further postulate that other mycotoxins are inhibitors or quenching metabolites that prevent the protective abilities and activities of endophytic biocontrol bacteria within intercellular spaces. To test the aforementioned suppositions, we review work detailing the use of bioassay bacteria for several mycotoxins for quorum activity. We specifically focus on the quorum use of endophytic bacteria as biocontrols for mycotoxic fungal endophytes, such as the Fusarium species and the fumonisin mycotoxins.

Multiplex Detection of Fusarium Species

Multiplex PCR is a powerful method to detect, identify, and quantify the mycotoxigenic fungus by targeting the amplification of genes associated with mycotoxin production and detection, identification, and quantification of Fusarium species. As compared with uniplex PCR, it has several advantages such as low cost, shortened time, and simultaneous amplification of more than two genes (in only one reaction tube). Here, we describe multiplex PCR-based detection and identification of trichothecene-, zearalenone-, fumonisin-, and enniatin-producing Fusarium species, the use of multiplex PCR in multiplex genotype assay and the use of multiplex TaqMan real-time qPCR.

Evaluating Fumonisin Gene Expression in Fusarium verticillioides

Transcript levels of key genes in a biosynthetic pathway are often taken as a proxy for metabolite production. This is the case of FUM1, encoding the first dedicated enzyme in the metabolic pathway leading to the production of the mycotoxins Fumonisins by fungal species belonging to the genus Fusarium. FUM1 expression can be quantified by different methods; here, we detail a protocol based on quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), by which relative or absolute transcript abundance can be estimated in Fusaria grown in vitro or in planta. As very seldom commercial kits for RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis are optimized for fungal samples, we developed a protocol tailored for these organisms, which stands alone but can be also easily integrated with specific reagents and kits commercially available.

Diversity of Fusarium species isolated from UK forage maize and the population structure of F. graminearum from maize and wheat

Pre-harvest contamination of forage maize by mycotoxin producing Fusarium species was investigated in the UK in 2011 and 2012. A total of 15 Fusarium species were identified from a collection of 1,761 Fusarium isolates recovered from maize stalks and kernels. This study characterized the diversity of Fusarium species present in forage maize in the UK. The predominant species detected were F. graminearum (32.9%) and F. culmorum (34.1%). Along with those species; F. avenacem, F. cerealis, F. equiseti, F. langsethiae, F. napiforme, F. oxysporum, F. poae, F. proliferatum, F. scripi, F. solani, F. subglutinans, F. tricinctum and, F. verticillioides were occasionally isolated. The trichothecene genotypes for F. graminearum were determined to be 84.9% deoxynivalenol (DON) and 15.0% nivalenol (NIV) while F. culmorum isolates were determined to have 24.9% DON and 75.1% NIV genotypes. A Bayesian model-based clustering method with nine variable number of tandem repeat markers was used to evaluate the population genetic structure of 277 F. graminearum isolates from the maize and wheat in the UK. There were three genetic clusters detected which were DON in maize, NIV in maize and DON in wheat. There were high admixture probabilities for 14.1% of the isolates in the populations. In conclusion, increased maize production in the UK and the high admixture rates in a significant portion of F. graminearum populations in maize and wheat will contribute to a new pathogen population which will further complicate breeding strategies for tolerance or resistance to this pathogen in both crops.

zeamais

Maize is one the most important staple foods in the world. However, numerous pests, such as fungal pathogens, e.g., Fusarium verticillioides, and insects, such as Sitophlilus zeamais, attack maize grains during storage. Many F. verticillioides strains produce fumonisins, one of the most important mycotoxin that causes toxic effects on human and animal health. This situation is aggravated by the insect fungal vector, Sitophlilus zeamais, which contributes to the dispersal of fungal spores, and through feeding damage, provide entry points for fungal infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro bioassays, the antifungal activity on F. verticillioides M3125 and repellent effects against S. zeamais of ketone terpenes. In addition, we performed Quantitative structure-activity relationship (Q-SAR) studies between physico-chemical properties of ketone terpenes and the antifungal effect. Thymoquinone was the most active compound against F. verticillioides (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, MIC: 0.87) affecting the lag phase and the growth rate showing a total inhibition of growth at concentration higher than 2 mM (p < 0.05). The Q-SAR model revealed that the antifungal activity of ketone compounds is related to the electronic descriptor, Pi energy. Thymoquinone showed a strong repellent effect (-77.8 ± 8.5, p < 0.001) against S. zeamais. These findings make an important contribution to the search for new compounds to control two stored pests of maize.