Transcriptome Analysis of Reveals Novel Targets for DON Cytotoxicity.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin produced by spp. that causes head blight (FHB) disease in cereal crops. Ingestion of food contaminated with DON poses serious human health complications. However, the DON cytotoxicity has been mostly deduced from animal studies. In this study, we used the nematode () as a tractable animal model to dissect the toxic effect of DON. Our results indicate that DON reduces the fecundity and lifespan of . Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis showed that DON upregulates innate immunity-related genes including and encoding PMK-1 (mitogen activated protein kinase-1)-regulated immune effectors, and encoding a CUB-like domain-containing protein. Furthermore, our RNAseq data demonstrate that out of ~17,000 genes, 313 are upregulated and 166 were downregulated by DON treatment. Among the DON-upregulated genes, several are genes encoding UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGTs) which are known to be involved in chemical detoxification. The three upregulated genes, (), () and () encoding the O-acyltransferase homolog, UGT26 and UGT 28, respectively, are shown to contribute to DON tolerance by a RNAi bacterial feeding experiment. The results of this study provide insights to the targets of DON cytotoxicity and potential mitigation measures.