A gene regulating ergot alkaloid biosynthesis in <i>Metarhizium brunneum</i>.

ABSTRACT: Ergot alkaloid synthesis (eas) gene clusters found in several fungi encode biosynthesis of agriculturally and pharmaceutically important ergot alkaloids. Although the biosynthetic genes of the ergot alkaloid pathway have been well characterized, regulation of those genes is unknown. We characterized a gene with sequence similarity to a putative transcription factor and that was found adjacent to the eas cluster of Metarhizium brunneum, a plant symbiont and insect pathogen. Function of the novel gene, easR, was explored by CRISPR-Cas9-derived gene knockouts. To maximize potential for ergot alkaloid accumulation, strains of M. brunneum were injected into larvae of the insect Galleria mellonella. Larvae infected with the wild type contained abundant e

SUBMITTER: Fabian SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11497822 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature