Expression of bik cluster and production of bikaverin by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici grown using two alternate nitrogen sources

• Published in: International microbiology Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 153 - 164
• Main Authors: Rodríguez-Torres, María Fernanda, Gutiérrez-Aguilar, Raymundo, Corrales-Escobosa, Alma Rosa, Meza-Carmen, Víctor, Macías-Sánchez, Karla Lizbeth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2022; Spanish Society for Microbiology
• Subjects: Ammonium chloride; Ammonium nitrate; Antibiotics; Anticancer properties; Applied Microbiology; Biological properties; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chloroform; Coloration; Eukaryotic Microbiology; Fusarium - genetics; Fusarium fujikuroi; Fusarium oxysporum; Genes; Ionization; Ions; Life Sciences; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Medical Microbiology; Metabolites; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; mRNA; Nitrogen; Nitrogen sources; Original Article; Pigments; Secondary metabolites; Xanthones; Pigments; cluster; Naftoquinonas; Bikaverin; Fusarium; Bik cluster
• ISSN: 1139-6709; 1618-1905
• DOI: 10.1007/s10123-021-00206-9

The genus
Fusarium
can be utilized to produce a great variety of secondary metabolites under specific culture conditions, including pigments of increasing biotechnological interest, such as bikaverin. Such pigments are important due to the biological properties they possess, including antitumor and antibiotic activities, among others. In
Fusarium fujikuroi
,
bik1–bik6
have been identified as the genes that are responsible for the synthesis of bikaverin. Therefore, in this study, we screened for the presence of
bik
genes and examined changes in mRNA levels of the
bik
genes under the influence of NH
4
NO
3
(0.024, 0.048, 0.50, 1.0, and 4.60 g L
−1
) and NH
4
Cl (0.50 and 1.0 g L
−1
) as nitrogen sources for the phytopathogen
Fusarium oxysporum
f. sp
.
lycopersici
. Our results indicated the presence of at least six
bik
(
bik1–bik6
) genes and showed increased mRNA levels for
bik4
,
bik5
, and
bik6
in conditions where NH
4
NO
3
was used at pH 3.0. The characteristic coloration of bikaverin was obtained in 10 out of 16 culture conditions, except when the fungus was grown with higher concentrations of NH
4
NO
3
(1.0 and 4.60 g L
−1
). The pigment was chloroform-extracted from the culture conditions of NH
4
NO
3
(0.024, 0.048, and 0.50 g L
−1
) and NH
4
Cl (0.50 and 1.0 g L
−1
) with 3 and 9 days of incubation. Analysis via visible spectroscopy and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry were used for the identification of bikaverin.