Biosynthesis, regulation, and biological significance of fumonisins in fungi: current status and prospects

Abstract

Fumonisins are one of the most important mycotoxin classes due to their widespread occurrence and potential health threat to humans and animals. Currently, most of the research focuses on the control of fumonisin contamination in the food supply chain. In recent years, significant progress in biochemistry, enzymology, and genetic regulation of fumonisin biosynthesis has been achieved using molecular technology. Furthermore, new insights into the roles of fumonisins in the interaction between fungi and plant hosts have been reported. This review provides an overview of the current understanding of the biosynthesis and regulation of fumonisins. The ecological significance of fumonisins to Fusarium species that produce the toxins is discussed, and the complex regulatory networks of fumonisin synthesis is proposed.

Keywords:

• Mycotoxin
• fumonisin
• contamination
• biosynthesis
• fungus
• plant host–pathogen interaction

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Jiasheng Wang and Dr Kathy S. Xue from University of Georgia Athens for critically reading and helpful comments on this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant no. 31701657], Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [Grant no. 2020343], the People’s Livelihood Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou [Grant no. 201803020028], Pearl River S&T Nova Program of Guangzhou, China [Grant no. 201906010005], and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province [Grant no. 2019A1515011481].