DNA-mediated transformation of the secondarily homothallic basidiomycete Coprinus bilanatus

The Coprinus cinereus trp-2 gene which encodes a trifunctional protein of the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway was used to transform a trp-2 mutant of the secondarily homothallic species Coprinus bilanatus . Southern blot analysis confirmed the presence of transforming DNA in the genome of transformants and indicate the presence of tandemly duplicated copies of the plasmid in some of these. Although these two species of Coprinus are regarded as closely related, no cross-hybridisation between the homologous trp-2 genes was detected.