Gene expression in Fusarium graminearum grown on plant cell wall.

Fusarium graminearum is a phytopathogenic filamentous fungus attacking a wide range of plants including Humulus lupulus (hop). Transcriptional analysis of F. graminearum grown on minimal media containing hop cell wall or glucose as the sole carbon source was performed by applying a highly stringent method combining microarrays and a subtracted cDNA library. In addition to genes coding for various cell wall degrading enzymes (CWDE), several metabolic pathways were induced in response to the plant cell wall substrate. Many genes participating in these pathways are probably involved in cellular transport. But the most interesting was that all the genes composing the 4-aminobutyrate-shunt (GABA-shunt) were also up-regulated in the presence of plant cell wall material and were present in the cDNA library. This study provides a description of a part of the fungal gene expression profile when it is in contact with raw biological materials, and helps in understanding the plant cell wall degradation and the infection process.