Fluorescent Protein as a Tool for Investigating Meiotic Recombination in Neurospora

We have built a series of Neurospora crassa strains containing alleles of green fluorescent protein (GFP) to provide a visual phenotype for investigating meiotic recombination. These strains provide a convenient means of screening the Neurospora knockout library for genes involved in genetic recombination. They permit rapid analysis of recombination outcomes by allowing visualization of segregation patterns in a large number of octads from crosses heterozygous for GFP. Using this system the effect of a knockout on gene conversion and/or on crossing over between the fluorescent marker and the centromere can be measured.