STRAINS USED AND GROWTH CONDITIONS
Escherichia coli strain DH5alpha was used for maintenance of plasmids and was routinely grown in LB media (yeast extract, 10 g/L; tryptone, 16 g/L; NaCl, 5 g/L and 20 g/L agar) at 37oC. P. nodorum strain SN15 was grown on V8-PDA (V8 juice, 150 ml/L; PDB, 10 g/L; CaCO3 3 g/L; agar, 15g/L and pH adjusted to 6) at 22oC with 12 hours of light per day as previously described [26].
GUIDE RNA DESIGN AND CLONING
The gene of interest was screened for target sites using NGG as the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) using Geneious software version 9.1.8. Potential sgRNAs were scored for on-target activity [27] (Supplementary Table 1). The best scoring sgRNA sequence was manually checked using BLAST analysis on the reference genome to avoid any potential off-target activity. sgRNA sequences were ordered as oligonucleotides (forward and reverse) with the overhangs having BsaI restriction sites to enable cloning into the DR274 plasmid (Addgene plasmid #42250) [28]. These oligonucleotides were annealed as previously described (https://www.addgene.org/crispr/zhang/). Briefly, 1 mL (100 mM) of each oligonucleotide was combined with 1 mL 10´ T4 DNA ligase buffer (New England Biolabs), 6.5 mL ddH2O and 0.5 mL T4 Polynucleotide Kinase (New England Biolabs). This reaction was incubated at 37°C for 30 min prior to incubation at 95°C for 5 min and then ramping down to 25°C at 5°C per min. The annealed oligonucleotides were cloned into BsaI-digested DR274 backbone vector following a slight modification from https://www.addgene.org/crispr/zhang/. Briefly, the PCR duplex was diluted 1:10 instead of 1:200 and incubated with the digested plasmid at room temperature for 30 minutes. The ligated mixture (2 mL) was transformed into E. coli and sgRNA insertion and sequence was confirmed by sequencing of the plasmid with M13F and M13R primers followed by plasmid extraction through ZyppyTm Plasmid Miniprep Kit (Zymo Research).
IN VITRO TRANSCRIPTION OF sgRNA
The plasmid containing sgRNA was linearized with the HindIII restriction enzyme and gel purified. 1 mg of the linearized plasmid was then used as a template for in vitro transcription of the sgRNA using the HiScribeTM T7 High Yield RNA Synthesis Kit (New England Biolabs). The reaction was incubated at 37°C for 18 hours and synthesized gRNA (sgRNA) was purified using Agencourt RNAClean XP cleanup beads (Beckman Coulter). The concentration of in vitro synthesized gRNA was assayed using the Qubit fluorometric quantitation system (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and stored at -20°C.
PURIFICATION OF THE Cas9 PROTEIN
The Cas9 protein was purified as previously described [29]. In brief, the pMJ915 plasmid (Addgene plasmid #69090) [30]) which encodes a 6xHistidine (His) – Maltose binding protein (MBP) – Tobacco etch virus cleavage site – Cas9 fusion protein was transformed into Rosetta2 DE3 cells (Merck). Cas9 protein was expressed using the auto-induction method [31]. Protein purification involved Ni-affinity purification, removal of the His-MBP fusion using TEV protease, followed by ion-exchange chromatography and size-exclusion chromatography. Purified Cas9 was concentrated to 10 mg/ml in 20 mM HEPES–KOH pH 7.5, 150 mM KCl, 5% glycerol and 1 mM dithiothreitol, snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C.
CONSTRUCTION OF HOMOLOGY DIRECTED REPAIR (HDR) CASSETTES
The gpdA promoter and hygromycin-B resistance gene were amplified from plasmid pAN7-1 using NewPgpdA-F and TtrpC-R [32]. Homologous flanks included in the HDR cassettes were amplified from DNA flanking the sgRNA site in the targeted gene (Tox3) (primers are listed in Supplementary Table 2). The 5’ flank, upstream of the PAM sequence, only included seven bases of sgRNA rather than twenty bases and the HDR cassette encountered an NGG sequence 20-25 bp away from the targeted cut sites avoiding the generation of a potential PAM site in the cassette (Figure 2B). The HDR cassettes comprising the homologous flanks and selectable markers were then assembled in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as previously reported [33]. The yeast transformation was conducted using the Frozen-EZ Yeast Transformation II KitTm (ZymoResearch) as per manufacturer’s instructions. Yeast colonies harbouring the transformed plasmid were confirmed on selective drop out media (minus uracil). Yeast plasmid extraction was performed using the ZymoprepTM II mini prep protocol (ZymoResearch). Plasmids were then transformed into E. coli and subsequently screened by colony PCR. Takara ExTaq was used for all PCR reactions in this study.
IN VITRO CLEAVAGE ASSAY
The in vitro cleavage assay was modified from a previously described protocol [29]. Briefly, 1 mL of Cas9 protein (1 mg) was mixed with 1.5 mL of sgRNA (1.5 mg) and incubated at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to form the RNP assembly. After this, 16 mL of 1´ cleavage buffer (10 mM MgCl2, 0.1 mM EDTA, 20 mM HEPES pH 7.5, 150 mM KCl, 0.5 mM DTT (added fresh while using the buffer) was added to the RNP assembly followed by the addition of 2 mL of PCR product of the targeted gene (100-120 ng). The mixture was centrifuged briefly and incubated immediately at 37°C for 90 min. If potential non-specific cleavage of an HDR cassette was also being assayed, 100-120 ng of the cassette was also added to the reaction mixture. After the incubation, 3 mL of 0.25 M EDTA and 4 mL of agarose gel electrophoresis loading dye was added to the tube, mixed well and incubated for 10 min at 60°C. The reaction mixture was then centrifuged at 14,000 g for 5 min and the supernatant was analysed by gel electrophoresis to visualize the cleaved products.
FUNGAL PROTOPLAST TRANSFORMATION
Parastagonospora nodorum protoplast preparation and transformation was undertaken as previously described [34].
Cas9 (6 mg) and sgRNA (1.5 mg) were assembled at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to form the ribonuclear protein (RNP) complex [29]. When undertaking the homology directed repair approach, 3-4 mg of PCR amplified HDR cassette was included with RNP complex and transformed into protoplasts.
FUNGAL DNA EXTRACTION
P. nodorum mycelia were harvested from agar plates after 12-14 days growth and freeze-dried overnight. A tungsten carbide bead was added and the dried fungal material was ground to a fine powder using a TissueLyserIT (Qiagen) operating for 2 cycles at 50 Hz for 2 min. 300 mL of TE buffer (10 mM Tris, 1 mM EDTA pH8) with 1% SDS was added to the ground spores/mycelia and incubated for 10 min at 50°C shaking at 350 rpm. After incubation, 300 mL of 2.8 M potassium acetate was added and mixed prior to centrifugation at 14,000 g for 10 min. The supernatant was transferred to a fresh tube pre-filled with 500 mL of isopropanol, mixed by inversion and then centrifuged at 14,000 g for 10 min. The resulting DNA pellet was rinsed with 250 mL of 70% ethanol before being briefly air-dried and resuspended in 30 mL of sterile water. The extracted DNA was further diluted 1:100 in water for PCR screening.