Transcription pf polyketide synthase genes and secondary metabolites in linchen fungi

Lichenized ascomycetes produce a broad spectrum of secondary metabolites. This chemical diversity is unevenly distributed at various levels of the organismal phylogeny. Certain compounds are jointly present in large groups of lichens but others have a highly scattered occurrence. Furthermore different compounds can be expressed under varying culture conditions, and in nature. The focus in this project will be to relate this diversity with the phylogenetic patterns of an essential enzyme in the metabolic pathway, i.e. polyketide synthase. Expressed polyketide synthase (PKS) genes detected by reverse transcription will be compared with the presence of compounds in the phenotype and the presence of corresponding genes in the genomes, as found by cloning and heterologous primer approaches.

Lichenized ascomycetes produce a broad spectrum of secondary metabolites. This chemical diversity is unevenly distributed at various levels of the organismal phylogeny. Certain compounds are jointly present in large groups of lichens but others have a highly scattered occurrence. Furthermore different compounds can be expressed under varying culture conditions, and in nature. The focus in this project will be to relate this diversity with the phylogenetic patterns of an essential enzyme in the metabolic pathway, i.e. polyketide synthase. Expressed polyketide synthase (PKS) genes detected by reverse transcription will be compared with the presence of compounds in the phenotype and the presence of corresponding genes in the genomes, as found by cloning and heterologous primer approaches.