Towards elucidating and understanding the polyketome of Fusarium graminearum

Abstract

  Besides being one of the most damaging pathogens of a wide range of crops, members of the Fusarium genus can produce several mycotoxins, including deoxynivalenol, fumonisins and zearalenone, which have received tremendous attention. Furthermore, the genus is a rich source of many more natural products (NPs), where polyketides is one of the most important classes. Genome analyses of 207 Fusarium species have suggested that genus has a genetic potential to produce 113 structurally distinct families of polyketide-derived NPs. However, less than 25% of the potential polyketides have been identified, which is often caused by the inability of the fungal strains to unleash their full metabolite potential under standard laboratory conditions. In this paper, we give a status on one of the best studied species of Fusarium, F. graminearum, where the products of 12 of 15 polyketide synthases (PKSs) are known. We describe the strategies that have been used to link the PKSs to their product and give some thought on how the last polyketides can be identified.