VIEW ARTICLE

Genetics

A Genetic System for Trichothecene Toxin Production in Gibberella pulicaris (Fusarium sambucinum). Anne E. Desjardins, Northern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, IL 61604; Marian Beremand, Northern Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peoria, IL 61604. Phytopathology 77:678-683. Accepted for publication 2 October 1986. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1987. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-77-678.

Trichothecene-toxin-producing isolates of Gibberella pulicaris (anamorph: Fusarium sambucinum) were mated on water agar containing steam-sterilized mulberry (Morus alba) twigs. Mature ascospores developed at 15 C following several weeks of incubation under an alternating 12 hr/25 C light and 12 hr/20 C dark schedule. Segregation patterns among random ascospore progeny from parents differing in diacetoxyscirpenol production and other traits were examined. Protoperithecium formation and red pigmentation were monogenically controlled. Preliminary analyses of progeny from crosses among toxin-producing and nonproducing isolates indicated that ability to produce toxin is controlled by genes at several loci. We conclude that trichothecene toxin biosynthesis in G. pulicaris is amenable to classical genetic analysis. This is the first documented genetic system in a trichothecene-producing fungus.