Targeted Gene Disruption of the Neuronal Calcium Sensor 1 Homologue in Rice Blast Fungus, Magnaporthe grisea

Abstract

  We isolated a neuronal calcium sensor 1/frequenin-like gene, Mg-NCS-1, from Magnaporthe grisea and evaluated the phenotypes of null-mutants of the gene. The putative Mg-NCS-1 protein showed high similarity to the other NCS-1 proteins. The null-mutants had normal growth and pathogenicity similar to the parental strain, but their growth was suppressed in high concentrations of Ca²⁺ or acidic conditions.