Absence of a gene encoding cytosine deaminase in the genome of the agaricomycete Coprinopsis cinerea enables simple marker recycling through 5-fluorocytosine counterselection.

Coprinopsis cinerea is a model species for molecular genetics studies of sexual development in agaricomycetes or homobasidiomycetes. Recently, efficient gene targeting was established in this fungus by generating Cc.ku70 or Cc.lig4 disruptants. To determine the molecular mechanisms underlying sexual development, which involves many genes, generating multiple gene disruptants is required. However, the number of transformation markers available for C. cinerea is limited. This problem would be solved by establishing marker recycling. In this study, we found that C. cinerea lacks a gene encoding a homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytosine deaminase (Fcy1p) in its genome, which is present in many other fungi. We also observed that C. cinerea is resistant to 5-fluorocytosine. Based on these findings, we established a simple marker recycling method in this fungus using 5-fluorocytosine counterselection after heterologous expression of FCY1 derived from Pleurotus ostreatus, together with the hygromycin resistance gene. This study proposes a simple genetic manipulation system that can be performed using wild-type strains of several fungi that lack a gene homologous to S. cerevisiae FCY1 in their genomes.