Genome-wide functional analysis of pathogenicity genes in the rice blast fungus.
Rapid translation of genome sequences into meaningful biological information hinges on the integration of multiple experimental and informatics methods into a cohesive platform. Despite the explosion in the number of genome sequences available, such a platform does not exist for filamentous fungi. Here we present the development and application of a functional genomics and informatics platform for a model plant pathogenic fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae. In total, we produced 21,070 mutants through large-scale insertional mutagenesis using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. We used a high-throughput phenotype screening pipeline to detect disruption of seven phenotypes encompassing the fungal life cycle and identified the mutated gene and the nature of mutation for each mutant. Comparative analysis of phenotypes and genotypes of the mutants uncovered 202 new pathogenicity loci. Our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of our platform and provide new insights on the molecular basis of fungal pathogenesis. Our approach promises comprehensive functional genomics in filamentous fungi and beyond.
Jeon
Junhyun
J
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Center for Fungal Genetic Resources, and Center for Agricultural Biomaterials, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
Park
Sook-Young
SY
Chi
Myoung-Hwan
MH
Choi
Jaehyuk
J
Park
Jongsun
J
Rho
Hee-Sool
HS
Kim
Soonok
S
Goh
Jaeduk
J
Yoo
Sungyong
S
Choi
Jinhee
J
Park
Ju-Young
JY
Yi
Mihwa
M
Yang
Seonyoung
S
Kwon
Min-Jung
MJ
Han
Seong-Sook
SS
Kim
Byeong Ryun
BR
Khang
Chang Hyun
CH
Park
Bongsoo
B
Lim
Se-Eun
SE
Jung
Kyongyong
K
Kong
Sunghyung
S
Karunakaran
Maruthachalam
M
Oh
Hong-Sik
HS
Kim
Hyojeong
H
Kim
Seryun
S
Park
Jaejin
J
Kang
Soyoung
S
Choi
Woo-Bong
WB
Kang
Seogchan
S
Lee
Yong-Hwan
YH
D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D015825:Chromosomes, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal / Q000502:physiology; D016681:Genome, Fungal; D005838:Genotype; D020082:Magnaporthe / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D030781:Organisms, Genetically Modified; D010641:Phenotype; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
D037521:Virulence Factors