The application of CRISPR/Cas9 in genome editing of filamentous fungi.

Filamentous fungi usually refer to the eukaryotic microorganisms with developed mycelia and without large fruiting bodies. Filamentous fungi not only play an important role in material cycle in nature, but also are closely related to human health, industry and agriculture. However, the difficulties in genetic manipulation impede the molecular studies on filamentous fungi. Clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) is a conservative immune defense mechanism found in bacteria and archaea. Recently, it has been developed as a convenient and flexible technique for genome editing. At present, CRISPR/Cas9 has been applied in different species for genetic operation. This review summarizes the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in genome editing of filamentous fungi and aims to provide a reference for the research in this field.