Barcoded mutant library enables high-throughput functional genomics in a filamentous fungus

Abstract

Significance Filamentous fungi are critical ecosystem components that cycle nutrients and form plant symbioses. Some are also pathogens that cause millions of human deaths each year, threaten bat and amphibian species with extinction, and cause famines. Thus, it is important to understand the role of fungal genes. We developed tools to rapidly connect genotype to phenotype in filamentous fungi. We generated a library of tens of thousands of barcoded mutants in the biocontrol agent Trichoderma atroviride, which we used to identify genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis and sugar utilization. The tools we developed are applicable to a broad range of filamentous fungi and enable investigations to identify treatments for fungal infections of humans, animals, and plants and improve biotechnology applications.