Fusarium graminearum from expression analysis to functional assays

Abstract

Fusarium graminearum, the causal agent of head blight of wheat, was the third filamentous fungus to have a completed genome sequence. Since the release of the genome sequence in 2003, F. graminearum has become a model for studies of genomics and transcriptomics, mycotoxins, fungal population genetics, gene function, and sexual development. Herein we present the techniques we have used in our laboratory to perform expression analyses on life cycle stages of F. graminearum and techniques to functionally characterize those genes identified as potentially interesting.