A scytalone dehydratase gene from Ophiostoma floccosum restores the melanization and pathogenicity phenotypes of a melanin-deficient Colletotrichum lagenarium mutant
Hl. Wang et al., A scytalone dehydratase gene from Ophiostoma floccosum restores the melanization and pathogenicity phenotypes of a melanin-deficient Colletotrichum lagenarium mutant, MOL GENET G, 266(1), 2001, pp. 126-132
Scytalone dehydratase is involved in the production of fungal dihydroxynaph
thalene (DHN) melanin. We have isolated and characterized OSD1, a gene enco
ding scytalone dehydratase from the sap-staining fungus Ophiostoma floccosu
m by PCR-based cloning. Sequence analysis suggests that the OSD1 gene encod
es a protein of 216 amino acids with a molecular weight of 24.2 kDa that sh
ows 51-70% sequence identity to other scytalone dehydratases. The cloned OS
D1 contains two introns of 76 by and 63 by in length, and is the longest sc
ytalone dehydratase gene sequence so far reported. Transformation of a DHN
melanin-deficient. nonpathogenic, mutant of Colletotrichum lagenarium with
the OSD1 gene restored melanin production and pathogenicity. The ability of
the mutant to produce the OSD1 gene product was confirmed by RT-PCR analys
is. These data show that the cloned OSD1 gene product can function in the D
HN melanin biosynthetic pathway in C. lagenarium.