J Biol Chem, Vol. 275, Issue 19, 14242-14247, May 12, 2000
Ornithine Decarboxylase of Stagonospora (Septoria)
nodorum Is Required for Virulence toward Wheat*
Andy
Bailey
,
Elisabeth
Mueller§, and
Paul
Bowyer¶
From the Institute of Arable Crop Research-Long Ashton Research
Station, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bristol,
Long Ashton, Bristol, BS41 9AF, United Kingdom
A knockout strain of Stagonospora
(Septoria) nodorum lacking the single ornithine decarboxylase
(ODC) allele has been created by targeted gene replacement. A central
region of the S. nodorum ODC gene was isolated by
polymerase chain reaction using degenerate oligonucleotides and used to
probe a
genomic library. The gene was sequenced and the encoded ODC
protein sequence was shown to be similar to those from other fungi. The
functionality of the S. nodorum ODC was confirmed by
complementation of an Aspergillus nidulans mutant
(puA) strain devoid of ODC activity, restoring growth in
the absence of exogenous polyamines. Sporulation of the transformants
was reduced suggesting abberant regulation of the S. nodorum gene in A. nidulans. Transformation-mediated
gene replacement was used to create strains which were auxotrophic for
putrescine and lack ODC coding sequences. Pathogenicity studies on
these mutants showed that they are greatly reduced in virulence compared with non-disrupted transformants. This confirms that the
strains carrying an ODC disruption cannot obtain sufficient polyamines
from the host plant for normal growth and, thus, that fungal ODC may be
a suitable target for chemical intervention.
*
This work was supported by the Institute of Arable Crop
Research-Long Ashton Research Station, supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).The costs of publication of this
article were defrayed in part by the
payment of page charges. The article
must therefore be hereby marked
"advertisement" in
accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section
1734 solely to indicate this fact.