Transcriptome analyses to understand effects of the Fusarium deoxynivalenol and nivalenol mycotoxins on Escherichia coli.

Fusarium spp. cause many diseases in farming systems and can produce diverse mycotoxins that can easily impact humans and animals through the ingestion of food and feed. Among these mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) are considered the most important hazards because they can rapidly diffuse into cells and block eukaryotic ribosomes, leading to inhibition of the translation system. Conversely, the effects of DON and NIV mycotoxins on bacteria remain unclear. We employed RNA-seq technology to obtain information regarding the biological responses of bacteria and putative bacterial mechanisms of resistance to DON and NIV mycotoxins. Most differentially expressed genes down-regulated in response to these mycotoxins were commonly involved in phenylalanine metabolism, glyoxylate cycle, and cytochrome o ubiquinol oxidase systems. In addition, we generated an overall network of 1028 up-regulated genes to identify core genes under DON and NIV conditions. The results of our study provide a snapshot view of the transcriptome of Escherichia coli K-12 under DON and NIV conditions. Furthermore, the information provided herein will be useful for development of methods to detect DON and NIV.