Int. J. Dev. Biol. 61: 375 - 381 (2017)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.160026lh

Vol 61, Issue 6-7

Genetic transformation of fungi

Review | Published: 16 August 2016

Liya He, Jiao Feng, Sha Lu, Zhiwen Chen, Chunmei Chen, Ya He, Xiuwen Yi and Liyan Xi*

Department of Dermatology, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

Abstract

Transferring DNA into cells is an essential research method for molecular cloning and gene function studies. As molecular biology and materials physics develop, more and more new transformation methods have been applied to mammalian cells. Some techniques have been successfully developed for several types of fungi, but their efficiencies are extremely low. To better study the functional genes of fungi, and to improve the characteristics of fungi in an easy, safe and reliable way, many investigations have been conducted to effectively develop such technologies for a wide variety of species and to increase the efficiency and reproducibility of genetic transformation. The objective of this paper is to review the latest development of transformation methods used for the genetic transformation of fungi, including several promising transformation approaches, together with their advantages and drawbacks, which may open up novel methods for fungi research.

Keywords

genetic transformation, fungi, electroporation, liposome, nanomaterial