Expressed sequence tag analyses of Ustilago maydis  teliospore germination.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 118
Description: Ustilago maydis grows in its host Zea mays eliciting the formation of tumours that become full of black teliospores. Teliospores are thick-walled, dormant, diploid cells that have evolved for dispersal and survival of the pathogen. Their germination leads to new rounds of infection and is temporally linked to meiosis. I have investigated gene expression during teliospore germination through creation of an EST library. Assembly of 2871 ESTs produced 1293 contiguous sequences. Based upon a blast search similarity cut-off of E &le; 10-5 38% of all contigs were orphans while 62% showed similarity to sequences in the protein database. Analyses of blast searches were used to functionally classify genes. Northern hybridizations using cDNA clones reveal a relative level of expression consistent with the number of sequences per contig. Identified genes and expression information provide a base for genome annotation of  U. maydis and further investigation of teliospore germination and pathogenesis.
Notes: Adviser:  Barry Saville.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Toronto, 2004.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, page: 2088.

MICR copy on microfiche (2 microfiches).