Asparagus is a genus consisting of over two hundred species of perennial plants. Fusariumproliferatum is a major asparagus pathogen and it biosynthesizes a variety of mycotoxins, of which fumonisins B are prevalent. Our previous studies on F.proliferatum strains indicated that asparagus extract affects the expression of FUM1 gene, encoding polyketide synthase, a key enzyme of the FUM gene cluster governing the biosynthesis of fumonisins. An asparagus-derived F.proliferatum strain increased fumonisin B1 production after extract fractions' addition, reaching the maximum 2 or 24 h after treatment. The cultures yielded between 40 and 520 mg of dry weight of mycelia after 14 days of cultivation. The differences in fungal biomass amounts between the whole extract and its fractions may result from synergistic effect of all bioactive compounds present in asparagus extract. Among extract fractions, the methanolic fraction had the highest effect on the dry weight of the mycelium reaching about a 13-fold increase compared to the control. Furthermore, we measured the relative expression of the FUM1 gene. Due to the possible antifungal activity of tested extract fractions, future research will be focused on the identification of the Asparagus officinalis L. compounds responsible for this activity.
Keywords: Fusarium proliferatum; UPLC/TQD; asparagus; fumonisins; plant-pathogen interaction; qPCR.