biostudies-literatureSon HNational Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)Rural Development Administratione0155671https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC4866773biostudies-literatureUnknown11(5)Transcriptome analysis is a widely used approach to study the molecular mechanisms underlying development and the responses of fungi to environmental cues. However, it is difficult to obtain cells with a homogeneous status from the sexually-induced culture of the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum. In this study, we provided phenotypic and genetic evidence to show that the current conditions applied for perithecia induction inevitably highly induced asexual sporulation in this fungus. We also found that hundreds of genes under the control of the conidiation-specific gene ABAA were unnecessarily upregulated after perithecia induction. Deletion of ABAA specifically blocked conidia production in both the wild-type strain and sexually-defective mutants during sexual development. TakePloS oneUtilization of a Conidia-Deficient Mutant to Study Sexual Development in Fusarium graminearum.PMC48667732013R1A6A3A04059121PJ01085602Lim JYLee YLee YWSon HfalseUtilization of a Conidia-Deficient Mutant to Study Sexual Development in Fusarium graminearum.Transcriptome analysis is a widely used approach to study the molecular mechanisms underlying development and the responses of fungi to environmental cues. However, it is difficult to obtain cells with a homogeneous status from the sexually-induced culture of the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum. In this study, we provided phenotypic and genetic evidence to show that the current conditions applied for perithecia induction inevitably highly induced asexual sporulation in this fungus. We also found that hundreds of genes under the control of the conidiation-specific gene ABAA were unnecessarily upregulated after perithecia induction. Deletion of ABAA specifically blocked conidia production in both the wild-type strain and sexually-defective mutants during sexual development. Take2016-01-01T00:00:00Z20162026-04-08T16:44:38.896Z2019-03-26T22:54:55ZS-EPMC48667732717590110.1371/journal.pone.0155671