Efficient gene identification and targeted gene disruption in the wheat blotch fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola using TAGKO

TAGKO (transposon-arrayed gene knockout) is a highly efficient method for gene discovery and gene function assignment in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. Here, we report the application of genome-wide TAGKO to the wheat blotch fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola, including the successful development of electroporation-based transformation for this fungus. A M. graminicola genomic cosmid library was constructed and a pool of 250 cosmid clones was mutagenized by in vitro transposition. Sequence analysis identified 5,110 unique insertion events in the M. graminicola genome. Eleven transposon-tagged cosmid clones (TAGKO clones) were chosen and transformed into the wild-type strain by electroporation. Ten TAGKO clones out of 11 produced gene-specific mutants at a targeting frequency of 15–28%, significantly higher than that of conventional gene-disruption constructs. The remaining clone failed to produce viable mutants, thereby providing indirect evidence for the identification of an essential gene.