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Estimating polyketide metabolic potential among non-sporulating fungal endophytes of Vaccinium macrocarpon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2002

Michelle SAUER
Affiliation:
Merck Research Laboratories, RY 80Y-225, PO Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Ping LU
Affiliation:
Merck Research Laboratories, RY 80Y-225, PO Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Rajinder SANGARI
Affiliation:
Merck Research Laboratories, RY 80Y-225, PO Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Sarah KENNEDY
Affiliation:
Merck Research Laboratories, RY 80Y-225, PO Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Jon POLISHOOK
Affiliation:
Merck Research Laboratories, RY 80Y-225, PO Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
Gerald BILLS
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación Básica, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España SA, Josefa Valcárcel 38, Madrid 28027, Spain.
Zhiqiang AN
Affiliation:
Merck Research Laboratories, RY 80Y-225, PO Box 2000, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
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Abstract

A set of 23 non-sporulating, unidentifiable endophytic fungi associated with wild Vaccinium macrocarpon were examined for their polyketide metabolite producing potential. Using two degenerate polymerase chain reaction primers (FPKSKSU-2 and FPKSKSD-1), we cloned and sequenced 12 ketosynthase domains from 11 of the 23 cranberry endophytic fungi. Phylogenetic analyses segregated the 12 ketosynthase domains into three groups. One group of four sequences was clustered with polyketide synthase genes involved in melanin formation. The second group of two ketosynthase sequences clustered with aflatoxin encoding fungal polyketide synthases. The remaining six ketosynthase domains were not clustered with any of the known fungal polyketide synthase groups. Of the 12 ketosynthase fragments, five contained one or more introns in the ∼800 bp DNA region. In order to locate the phylogenetic origin of the polyketide synthase genes, phylogenetic relationships of the strains were inferred from small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences. Analyses of small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences showed that all but one of the strains grouped among the major clades of the ascomycetes. The exceptional strain, CR70, was probably an oomycete. Thirteen of the 22 ascomycetous fungi appeared within a clade that included Oidiodendron tenuissimum of the Myxotrichaceae.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The British Mycological Society 2002

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