Conditional lethal disruption of TATA-binding protein gene in Penicillium marneffei

Abstract

Problems can arise in studying the regulation of transcription in fungi if gene disruption is employed to evaluate the role of essential transcription factors. Herein, we have developed a method to characterize the essential genes of Penicillium marneffei. This has been used to examine the significance of P. marneffei TATA-binding protein (TBP) in growth and development. Strains in which the expression of TbpA could be regulated were constructed by placing tbpA under the control of the xylP promoter. The construct was introduced into P. marneffei and the resulting strains were used to produce P. marneffei tbpA deletion strains. Phenotypic examination of growth of the tbpA overexpressing stra..