Pathogenic Microbiology Commons^™

Crispr-Cas9 Editing Of Nitrate Transporter Gene, Um03849, In Ustilago Maydis, Luke A. Schroeder, Sunita Khanal, Michael H. Perlin

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Ustilago maydis, the basidiomycete smut-fungus, can infect and cause tumors in corn plants. For this, mating between compatible haploid cells is important. The mating and subsequent dimorphic transition in U. maydis require starvation for nutrients such as nitrogen, in addition to pheromone-receptor interactions between compatible partners. In this research, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique was used to create INDEL mutations (sequence insertion or deletion) in the nitrate transporter gene, um03849, in U. maydis. The gene was edited in mating compatible haploid strains 1/2 and 2/9. The phenotypes were characterized for the um03849 mutants as to growth ability, mating …