Open AccessPhytotoxins from the pathogenic fungi Drechslera maydis and Drechslera sorghicola
Author(s) -
Fumio Sugawara,
Gary A. Strobel,
Richard Strange,
James N. Siedow,
Gregory D. Van Duyne,
Jon Clardy
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.84.10.3081
Subject(s) - drechslera , biology , leaf spot , blight , botany
Drechslera maydis , the causal agent of Southern corn leaf blight, andDrechslera sorghicola , the causal agent of leaf spot on Johnson grass, produce a series of phytotoxic sesterterpenoids. These sesterterpenoids belong to the ophiobolin family. One of them, ophiobolin I, was characterized by x-ray diffraction and served as a crucial reference compound for characterizing four other ophiobolins. All of the ophiobolins studied produce characteristic lesions on host plants at concentrations of 1 mM to 1 μM. The ophiobolin characterized as 6-epiophiobolin A is selectively toxic to corn bearing Texas-male-sterile (Tms) cytoplasm when assayed in a dark CO2 fixation assay. It is plausible that these ophiobolins had a role in the 1970 corn-blight epidemic in North America.