Ergot Alkaloid Biosynthesis in the Maize (<i>Zea mays</i>) Ergot Fungus <i>Claviceps gigantea</i>

Biosynthesis of the dihydrogenated forms of ergot alkaloids is of interest because many of the ergot alkaloids used as pharmaceuticals may be derived from dihydrolysergic acid (DHLA) or its precursor dihydrolysergol. The maize (<i>Zea mays</i>) ergot pathogen <i>Claviceps gigantea</i> has been reported to produce dihydrolysergol, a hydroxylated derivative of the common ergot alkaloid festuclavine. We hypothesized expression of <i>C. gigantea cloA</i> in a festuclavine-accumulating mutant of the fungus <i>Neosartorya fumigata</i> would yield dihydrolysergol because the P450 monooxygenase CloA from other fungi performs similar oxidation reactions. We engineered such a strain, and high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses demonstrated the modified strain produced DHLA, the fully oxidized product of dihydrolysergol. Accumulation of high concentrations of DHLA in field-collected <i>C. gigantea</i> sclerotia and discovery of a mutation in the gene <i>lpsA</i>, downstream from DHLA formation, supported our finding that DHLA rather than dihydrolysergol is the end product of the <i>C. gigantea</i> pathway