The gene PatG involved in the biosynthesis pathway of patulin, a food-borne mycotoxin, encodes a 6-methylsalicylic acid decarboxylase.

Patulin is a mycotoxin produced by fungal genera such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Byssochlamys. It induces neurological, gastrointestinal and immunological effects, which is why patulin belongs to a short list of mycotoxins whose level in food is regulated in many countries around the world. Recently, a cluster gathering 15 genes involved in the biosynthesis of patulin has been identified in Aspergillus clavatus, but so far, only 4 genes encoding 6-methylsalicylic acid synthase, m-cresol hydroxylase, m-hydroxybenzyl alcohol hydroxylase and isoepoxydon dehydrogenase have been characterized. Previous studies have shown the involvement of a decarboxylase in the transformation of 6-methylsalicylic acid, the first stable patulin precursor, into m-cresol. In this study a putative decarboxylase gene, PatG, was identified in the genome sequence of A. clavatus. This gene is located near two P450 cytochrome genes PatH and PatI responsible respectively for the hydroxylation of m-cresol and m-hydroxybenzyl alcohol. This decarboxylase encoded by PatG (ACLA_093620) consists of 325 amino acids. The search for putative conserved domain revealed that the gene product belongs to the AminoCarboxyMuconate Semialdehyde Decarboxylase (ACMSD) related protein family. This family includes decarboxylases such as the γ-resorcylate decarboxylase or o-pyrocatechuate decarboxylase. The substrates of these enzymes display strong structural similarities with 6-methylsalicylic acid. PatG was strongly expressed during patulin production whereas it was very weakly expressed in non-patulin permissive conditions. The coding sequence was used to enable heterologous expression of functional enzymes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The presence of decarboxylase was confirmed by Western blot. The bioconversion assays showed that PATG catalyzed the decarboxylation of 6-methylsalicylic acid into m-cresol. These results confirm for the first time that 6-methylsalicylic acid is the substrate for PATG, the 6-methylsalicylic acid decarboxylase. With this study, the four genes involved in the four first steps of patulin biosynthesis pathway (acetate→gentisyl alcohol) are now identified.