Thanks for the primer on CRISPR-Cas9 mate.
What I'd been thinking about, is that there are certain regulatory factors within the fungal genus Claviceps, a genus of ascomycete fungi that exist in the wild, as parasites on certain grasses. Most of the species have either a genus or a single species within which they are restricted to parasitizing, quite toxic for the most part, producing various mycotoxins, as well as lysergic acid derivatives, simple amides occasionally, clavines and lysergic acid peptides such as ergotamine, ergovaline, ergocristine and others. Although unlike most, one species, the one I have to work with, C.purpurea; the common or garden rye ergot has an astonishingly wide range. It isn't so much unfussy about that which it parasitizes, it is an absolutely whorish little bugger!
Not just genus-wide host range but entire orders of grasses, Arundinoids, Pooids, even sedges IIRC.
Rye was the classic (and favourite) host species, and it used to get into the bread in the middle ages before it was understood, and is thought to have been responsible, possibly, for the epidemic of witch-mania and inquisitions, courtesy of hallucinations, seizures and severe vasoconstriction resulting in gangrene. Not really ideal for a sandwich. But the alkaloids it produces are useful, once one manages to engineer a productive strain, using various mutagens on cultures, along with colorimetric testing with Van Urk or Erlich's reagents to determine alkaloid levels.
Problems are twofold-one is, once the strain is there in front of someone, KEEPING it there is another matter, because the little sods become senescent after several subcultures usually. And also, its difficult to store because productive strains usually, but not universally, do not produce conidia.
And ascospores of course are less useful because they will not then breed true. I wish to have a shot at at least knocking out the regulatory factors involved in senescence, along with a negative feedback mechanism controlling tryptophan biosynthesis. And the more available to the fungus, given the lysergic acid is biosynthesized from dimethylallyltryptophan the better the yield. Quite a lot of things I wish to try, mind you but the senescence, and conidiation are the two primary targets for attempted manipulation.
Because you must be shitting on my breakfast if so. Not things I am prepared to have more to do with than absolutely necessary. Hydroxylamine is about the only one of the planned for mutagens that isn't downright evil stuff. Use if needs be, sure but...I don't REALLY like the thought of getting cancer or dropping dead.