TY - JOUR

T1 - Identification and Functional Characterisation of Two Oat UDP-Glucosyltransferases Involved in Deoxynivalenol Detoxification

AU - Khairullina, Alfia

AU - Renhuldt, Nikos Tsardakas

AU - Wiesenberger, Gerlinde

AU - Bentzer, Johan

AU - Collinge, David B.

AU - Adam, Gerhard

AU - Bülow, Leif

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Oat is susceptible to several Fusarium species that cause contamination with different trichothecene mycotoxins. The molecular mechanisms behind Fusarium resistance in oat have yet to be elucidated. In the present work, we identified and characterised two oat UDP-glucosyltransferases orthologous to barley HvUGT13248. Overexpression of the latter in wheat had been shown previously to increase resistance to deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) and to decrease disease the severity of both Fusarium head blight and Fusarium crown rot. Both oat genes are highly inducible by the application of DON and during infection with Fusarium graminearum. Heterologous expression of these genes in a toxin-sensitive strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae conferred high levels of resistance to DON, NIV and HT-2 toxins, but not C4-acetylated trichothecenes (T-2, diacetoxyscirpenol). Re-combinant enzymes AsUGT1 and AsUGT2 expressed in Escherichia coli rapidly lost activity upon purification, but the treatment of whole cells with the toxin clearly demonstrated the ability to convert DON into DON-3-O-glucoside. The two UGTs could therefore play an important role in counteracting the Fusarium virulence factor DON in oat.

AB - Oat is susceptible to several Fusarium species that cause contamination with different trichothecene mycotoxins. The molecular mechanisms behind Fusarium resistance in oat have yet to be elucidated. In the present work, we identified and characterised two oat UDP-glucosyltransferases orthologous to barley HvUGT13248. Overexpression of the latter in wheat had been shown previously to increase resistance to deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) and to decrease disease the severity of both Fusarium head blight and Fusarium crown rot. Both oat genes are highly inducible by the application of DON and during infection with Fusarium graminearum. Heterologous expression of these genes in a toxin-sensitive strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae conferred high levels of resistance to DON, NIV and HT-2 toxins, but not C4-acetylated trichothecenes (T-2, diacetoxyscirpenol). Re-combinant enzymes AsUGT1 and AsUGT2 expressed in Escherichia coli rapidly lost activity upon purification, but the treatment of whole cells with the toxin clearly demonstrated the ability to convert DON into DON-3-O-glucoside. The two UGTs could therefore play an important role in counteracting the Fusarium virulence factor DON in oat.

KW - deoxynivalenol

KW - glycosylation

KW - oats

KW - UDP-glucosyltransferase

U2 - 10.3390/toxins14070446

DO - 10.3390/toxins14070446

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35878183

AN - SCOPUS:85133533650

VL - 14

JO - Toxins

JF - Toxins

SN - 2072-6651

IS - 7

M1 - 446

ER -