Tagging of a nitrogen pathway-specific regulator gene in Tolypocladium inflatum by the transposon Restless (original) (raw)

Abstract

Restless is an endogenous hAT transposon found in the cyclosporin-producing fungus Tolypocladium inflatum. This element is present in about 15 copies in a particular strain (ATCC34921) which was used for successful gene tagging. We have isolated a T. inflatum mutant with a defect in nitrogen metabolism. This mutant carries a copy of the Restless element in a gene encoding a C6 zinc-finger protein. The deduced amino acid sequence of the gene product shows a significant similarity to the NIT4 protein of Neurospora crassa, which is a regulator of nitrogen metabolism. The wild-type T. inflatum gene was shown to complement a nit-4 mutant of N. crassa. From these data, we conclude that the T. inflatum gene also encodes a regulator of nitrogen metabolism, which was named tnir1 (Tolypocladium nitrogen regulator 1). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fungal gene to be identified by transposon-directed gene tagging. A general method for gene tagging using an endogenous fungal transposon is presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany E-mail: ulrich.kueck@ruhr-uni-bochum.de Tel.: +49-234-3226212; Fax: +49-234-3214184, , , , , , DE
    F. Kempken & U. Kück

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Received: 20 October 1999 / Accepted: 15 December 1999

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Kempken, F., Kück, U. Tagging of a nitrogen pathway-specific regulator gene in Tolypocladium inflatum by the transposon Restless.Mol Gen Genet 263, 302–308 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004380051172

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