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University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations
Endophyte|dmaW|gene disruption|Cre/loxP|transient transfection
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Towards Elimination And Genetic Manipulation Of Ergot Alkaloid Production In Fungal Endophytes, Simona Florea
Towards Elimination And Genetic Manipulation Of Ergot Alkaloid Production In Fungal Endophytes, Simona Florea
University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations
Clavicipitaceous fungal endophytes provide several ecological benefits to their hosts. Besides improving host’s growth characteristics, Neotyphodium coenophialum, the endophyte of tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum), produces ergot alkaloids that have been proposed to be involved in fescue toxicosis. One approach to address the toxicosis problem is to genetically manipulate and modify N. coenophialum by knocking out a pair of homologous genes, (dmaW1 and dmaW2), encoding dimethylallyltryptophan synthase, the enzyme for the first and determinant step in ergot-alkaloid biosynthesis. In this study, disruption of dmaW2 was attempted using several disruption methods. Out of 1522 transformants screened, three …