Genetic analysis of Aspergillus nidulans unstable transformants obtained by the biolistic process.

Mitotically unstable Aspergillus nidulans argB+ transformants obtained by the biolistic process were studied in the present work. Hybridization signals from undigested DNA and pulsed-field chromosomal bands of the transformants suggested the introduced plasmid occurred as free concatenated molecules. Fifteen vigorous growth sectors released from the transformants were analysed in order to understand the mechanisms involved in their formation. All sectors showed the integration of exogenous genes into the fungal genome by homologous or heterologous recombinant events.