Features of Tri101, the trichothecene 3-O-acetyltransferase gene, related to the self-defense mechanism in Fusarium graminearum.

A structural gene of Tri101, which encodes trichothecene 3-O-acetyltransferase, was isolated as a 3-kb XhoI-XbaI fragment from the trichothecene producer Fusarium graminearum strain F15. The gene contained no introns, and the coding region was 0.7-kb downstream of a putative UTP-ammonia ligase gene which obviously is not related to the biosynthesis of trichothecenes. Tri101 was expressed when T-2 toxin was added, but this induction was not dependent on the expression level of Tri6, a transcription activator gene in the trichothecene biosynthetic and regulatory gene cluster.