• Mycobiology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.104-107
• /
• 2006

Flammulina velutipes was transformed efficiently by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. The transformation frequency was about 16% with the gill tissues of the fungal fruiting body. Southern hybridization and genetic analysis suggest that the introduced DNA was inserted onto different locations of the fungal genome, and inherited stably to the next generation via basidiospores. Transformation or gene tagging with Agrobacterium T-DNA based vector should be useful for wide ranges of genetic or molecular biological studies of the mushroom.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.132-134
• /
• 2001

Since it is known that Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which has long been used to transform plants, can transfer the T-DNA to yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae during tumourigenesis, a variety of fungi were subjected to transformation to improve their transformation frequency. In this study, I report the A. tumefaciens-mediated transformation of filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. Transfer of the binary vector pBIN9-Hg, containing the bacterial hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene under the control of the Aspergillus nidulans trpC promoter and terminator as a selectable marker, led to the selection of $50{\sim}100$ hygromycin B-resistant transformants per $1{\times}10^7$ conidia of A. niger. This efficiency is improved $10{\sim}20$ fold more than reported elsewhere. In order to avoid the difficulties in selection transformant from the over-growing non-transformant, I used top agar containing 900 ${\mu}g/ml$ of hygromycin. Genomic PCR and Southern analysis showed that all transformants contained single T-DNA insert per fungal genome. This technique offers an easier and more efficient method than that of using protoplast.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.460-464
• /
• 2013

dsRNA was found in malformed cultures of Lentinula edodes strain FMRI0339, one of the three most popular sawdust cultivated commercial strains of shiitake, and was also found in healthy-looking fruiting bodies and actively growing mycelia. Cloning of the partial genome of the dsRNA revealed the presence of the RdRp sequence of a novel L. edodes mycovirus (LeV), and sequence comparison of the cloned amplicon showed identical sequences sequence to known RNA-dependent RNA polymerase genes of LeV found in strain HKA. The meiotic stability of dsRNA was examined by measuring the ratio of the presence of dsRNA among sexual monokaryotic progeny. More than 40% of the monokaryotic progeny still contained the dsRNA, indicating the persistence of dsRNA during sexual reproduction. Comparing the mycelia growth of monokaryotic progeny suggested that there appeared to be a tendency toward a lower frequency of virus incidence in actively growing progeny.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.45 no.4
• /
• pp.401-408
• /
• 2017

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is an economically important fungal pathogen causing substantial yield losses indifferent host plants. To understand the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of this fungus, we have developed a novel, high-resolution multi-locus microsatellite typing (MLMT) method. Bioinformatic analysis of C. gloeosporioides unannotated genome sequence yielded eight potential microsatellite loci, of which five, CG1 $(GT)_n$, CG2 $(GT1)_n$, CG3 $(TC)_n$, CG4 $(CT)_n$, and CG5 $(CT1)_n$ were selected for further study based on their universal amplification potential, reproducibility, and repeat number polymorphism. The selected microsatellites were used to analyze 31 strains of C. gloeosporioides isolated from 20 different host plants from India. All microsatellite loci were found to be polymorphic, and the approximate fragment sizes of microsatellite loci CG1, CG2, CG3, CG4, and CG5 were in ranges of 213-241, 197-227, 231-265, 209-275, and 132-188, respectively. Among the 31 isolates, 55 different genotypes were identified. The Simpson's index of diversity (D) values for the individual locus ranged from 0.79 to 0.92, with the D value of all combined five microsatellite loci being 0.99. Microsatellite data analysis revealed that isolates from Ocimum sanctum, Capsicum annuum (chili pepper), and Mangifera indica (mango) formed distinct clusters, therefore exhibited some level of correlation between certain genotypes and host. The developed MLMT method would be a powerful tool for studying the genetic diversity and any possible genotype-host correlation in C. gloeosporioides.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.8-15
• /
• 2021

More and more available fungal genome sequence data reveal a large amount of secondary metabolite (SM) biosynthetic 'dark matter' to be discovered. Heterogeneous expression is one of the most effective approaches to exploit these novel natural products, but it is limited by having to clone entire biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) without errors. So far, few effective technologies have been developed to manipulate the specific large DNA fragments in filamentous fungi. Here, we developed a fungal BGC-capturing system based on CRISPR/Cas9 cleavage in vitro. In our system, Cas9 protein was purified and CRISPR guide sequences in combination with in vivo yeast assembly were rationally designed. Using targeted cleavages of plasmid DNAs with linear (8.5 kb) or circular (8.5 kb and 28 kb) states, we were able to cleave the plasmids precisely, demonstrating the high efficiency of this system. Furthermore, we successfully captured the entire Nrc gene cluster from the genomic DNA of Neosartorya fischeri. Our results provide an easy and efficient approach to manipulate fungal genomic DNA based on the in vitro application of Cas9 endonuclease. Our methodology will lay a foundation for capturing entire groups of BGCs in filamentous fungi and accelerate fungal SMs mining.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.98-105
• /
• 2020

Venturia nashicola is a fungal pathogen causing scab disease in Asian pears. It is particularly important in the Northeast Asia region where Asian pears are intensively grown. Venturia nashicola causes disease in Asian pear but not in European pear. Due to the highly restricted host range of Venturia nashicola, it is hypothesized that the small secreted proteins deployed by the pathogen are responsible for the host determination. Here we report the whole genome based phylogenetic analysis and predicted secretomes for V. nashicola isolates. We believe that our data will provide a valuable information for further validation and functional characterization of host determinants in V. nashicola.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.32-36
• /
• 2006

The genome sequences from several microbes have led to the discovery of numerous open reading frames of unknown functionality. The putative bacterial epoxide hydrolase (EH) genes selected from the genome databases were examined for their activities toward various epoxides. Among the nine open reading frames (ORFs) from four microbial species, the ORF from Caulobacter crescentus showed an epoxide hydrolase activity. The kinetic resolution, using C. crescentus EH (CCEH) of the aryl epoxides such as styrene oxide, could be performed more efficiently than short aliphatic epoxides. The resolution of racemic indene oxide, which could previously be resolved only by fungal epoxide hydrolases, was effectively accomplished by CCEH.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.229-237
• /
• 2010

Members of the genus Aspergillus are the most common fungi and all reproduce asexually by forming long chains of conidiospores (or conidia). The impact of various Aspergillus species on humans ranges from beneficial to harmful. For example, several species including Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger are used in industry for enzyme production and food processing. In contrast, Aspergillus flavus produce the most potent naturally present carcinogen aflatoxins, which contaminate various plant- and animal-based foods. Importantly, the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus has become the most prevalent airborne fungal pathogen in developed countries, causing invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients with a high mortality rate. A. fumigatus produces a massive number of small hydrophobic conidia as the primarymeans of dispersal, survival, genome-protection, and infecting hosts. Large-scale genome-wide expression studies can now be conducted due to completion of A. fumigatus genome sequencing. However, genomics becomes more powerful and informative when combined with genetics. We have been investigating the mechanisms underlying the regulation of asexual development (conidiation) and gliotoxin biosynthesis in A. fumigatus, primarily focusing on a characterization of key developmental regulators identified in the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. In this review, I will summarize our current understanding of how conidiation in two aspergilli is regulated.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.235-242
• /
• 2011

In contrast to the nuclear genome, the mitochondrial genome does not follow Mendelian laws of inheritance. The nuclear genome of meiotic progeny comes from the recombination of both parental genomes, whereas the meiotic progeny could inherit mitochondria from one, the other, or both parents. In fact, one fascinating phenomenon is that mitochondrial DNA in the majority of eukaryotes is inherited from only one particular parent. Typically, such unidirectional and uniparental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA can be explained by the size of the gametes involved in mating, with the larger gamete contributing towards mitochondrial DNA inheritance. However, in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, bisexual mating involves the fusion of two isogamous cells of mating type (MAT) a and MAT${\alpha}$, yet the mitochondrial DNA is inherited predominantly from the MATa parent. Although the exact mechanism underlying such uniparental mitochondrial inheritance in this fungus is still unclear, various hypotheses have been proposed. Elucidating the mechanism of mitochondrial inheritance in this clinically important and genetically amenable eukaryotic microbe will yield insights into general mechanisms that are likely conserved in higher eukaryotes. In this review, we highlight studies on Cryptococcus mitochondrial inheritance and point out some important questions that need to be addressed in the future.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2014.10a
• /
• pp.11-11
• /
• 2014

Fungal pathogens have huge impact on health and economic wellbeing of human by causing life-threatening mycoses in immune-compromised patients or by destroying crop plants. A key determinant of fungal pathogenesis is their ability to undergo developmental change in response to host or environmental factors. Genetic pathways that regulate such morphological transitions and adaptation are therefore extensively studied during the last few decades. Given that epigenetic as well as genetic components play pivotal roles in development of plants and mammals, contribution of microbial epigenetic counterparts to this morphogenetic process is intriguing yet nearly unappreciated question to date. To bridge this gap in our knowledge, we set out to investigate histone modifications among epigenetic mechanisms that possibly regulate fungal adaptation and processes involved in pathogenesis of a model plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. M. oryzae is a causal agent of rice blast disease, which destroys 10 to 30% of the rice crop annually. Since the rice is the staple food for more than half of human population, the disease is a major threat to global food security. In addition to the socioeconomic impact of the disease it causes, the fungus is genetically tractable and can undergo well-defined morphological transitions including asexual spore production and appressorium (a specialized infection structure) formation in vitro, making it a model to study fungal development and pathogenicity. For functional and comparative analysis of histone modifications, a web-based database (dbHiMo) was constructed to archive and analyze histone modifying enzymes from eukaryotic species whose genome sequences are available. Histone modifying enzymes were identified applying a search pipeline built upon profile hidden Markov model (HMM) to proteomes. The database incorporates 22,169 histone-modifying enzymes identified from 342 species including 214 fungal, 33 plants, and 77 metazoan species. The dbHiMo provides users with web-based personalized data browsing and analysis tools, supporting comparative and evolutionary genomics. Based on the database entries, functional analysis of genes encoding histone acetyltransferases and histone demethylases is under way. Here I provide examples of such analyses that show how histone acetylation and methylation is implicated in regulating important aspects of fungal pathogenesis. Current analysis of histone modifying enzymes will be followed by ChIP-Seq and RNA-seq experiments to pinpoint the genes that are controlled by particular histone modifications. We anticipate that our work will provide not only the significant advances in our understanding of epigenetic mechanisms operating in microbial eukaryotes but also basis to expand our perspective on regulation of development in fungal pathogens.