scholarly journals Mating Type Sequences in Asexually Reproducing Fusarium Species

2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 4419-4423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Kerényi ◽  
Antonio Moretti ◽  
Cees Waalwijk ◽  
Brigitta Oláh ◽  
László Hornok
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Fusarium Species ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Inverse Pcr ◽  
Identification System ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Hmg Box ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mating Type Genes

ABSTRACT To assess the potential for mating in several Fusarium species with no known sexual stage, we developed degenerate and semidegenerate oligonucleotide primers to identify conserved mating type (MAT) sequences in these fungi. The putative α and high-mobility-group (HMG) box sequences from Fusarium avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. poae, and F. semitectum were compared to similar sequences that were described previously for other members of the genus. The DNA sequences of the regions flanking the amplified MAT regions were obtained by inverse PCR. These data were used to develop diagnostic primers suitable for the clear amplification of conserved mating type sequences from any member of the genus Fusarium. By using these diagnostic primers, we identified mating types of 122 strains belonging to 22 species of Fusarium. The α box and the HMG box from the mating type genes are transcribed in F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. poae, and F. semitectum. The novelty of the PCR-based mating type identification system that we developed is that this method can be used on a wide range of Fusarium species, which have proven or expected teleomorphs in different ascomycetous genera, including Calonectria, Gibberella, and Nectria.

scholarly journals Mating-Type Genes from Asexual Phytopathogenic Ascomycetes Fusarium oxysporum and Alternaria alternata

2000 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1330-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsutomu Arie ◽  
Isao Kaneko ◽  
Takanobu Yoshida ◽  
Masami Noguchi ◽  
Yoshikuni Nomura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fusarium Oxysporum ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Alternaria Alternata ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Hmg Box ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Mating Type Genes ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Flanking Regions ◽  
Mat Genes

Mating-type (MAT) loci were cloned from two asexual (mitosporic) phytopathogenic ascomycetes, Fusarium oxysporum (a pyrenomycete) and Alternaria alternata (a loculoascomycete), by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based strategy. The conserved high mobility group (HMG) box domain found in the MAT1-2-1 protein was used as a starting point for cloning and sequencing the entire MAT1-2 idiomorph plus flanking regions. Primer pairs designed to both flanking regions were used to amplify the opposite MAT1-1 idiomorph. The MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 idiomorphs were approximately 4.6 and 3.8 kb in F. oxysporum and approximately 1.9 and 2.2 kb in A. alternata, respectively. In both species, the MAT1-1 idiomorph contains at least one gene that encodes a protein with a putative alpha box domain and the MAT1-2 idiomorph contains one gene that encodes a protein with a putative HMG box domain. MAT-specific primers were used to assess the mating type of F. oxysporum and A. alternata field isolates by PCR. MAT genes from A. alternata were expressed. The A. alternata genes were confirmed to be functional in a close sexual relative, Cochliobolus heterostrophus, by heterologous expression.

scholarly journals Functional analyses of the Neurospora crassa MT a-1 mating type polypeptide.

Genetics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
M L Philley ◽  
C Staben
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Binding Motif ◽  
Vegetative Incompatibility ◽  
Hmg Box

Abstract The Neurospora crassa mt a-1 gene, encoding the MT a-1 polypeptide, determines a mating type properties: sexual compatibility and vegetative incompatibility with A mating type. We characterized in vivo and in vitro functions of the MT a-1 polypeptide and specific mutant derivatives. MT a-1 polypeptide produced in Escherichia coli bound to specific DNA sequences whose core was 5'-CTTTG-3'. DNA binding was a function of the MT a-1 HMG box domain (a DNA binding motif found in high mobility group proteins and a diverse set of regulatory proteins). Mutation within the HMG box eliminated DNA binding in vitro and eliminated mating in vivo, but did not interfere with vegetative incompatibility function in vivo. Conversely, deletion of amino acids 216-220 of MT a-1 eliminated vegetative incompatibility, but did not affect mating or DNA binding. Deletion of the carboxyl terminal half of MT a-1 eliminated both mating and vegetative incompatibility in vivo, but not DNA binding in vitro. These results suggest that mating depends upon the ability of MT a-1 polypeptide to bind to, and presumably to regulate the activity of, specific DNA sequences. However, the separation of vegetative incompatibility from both mating and DNA binding indicates that vegetative incompatibility functions by a biochemically distinct mechanism.

scholarly journals Deletion of the Schizophyllum commune Aα Locus: The Roles of Aα Y and Z Mating-Type Genes

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 1437-1444
Author(s):  
C Ian Robertson ◽  
Kirk A Bartholomew ◽  
Charles P Novotny ◽  
Robert C Ullrich
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Sexual Development ◽  
Schizophyllum Commune ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Developmental Pathway ◽  
Mating Type Gene ◽  
Mating Type Genes ◽  
Regulatory Loci ◽  
Type Gene

The Aα locus is one of four master regulatory loci that determine mating type and regulate sexual development in Schizophyllum commune. We have made a plasmid containing a URA1 gene disruption of the Aα Y1 gene. Y1 is the sole Aα gene in Aα1 strains. We used the plasmid construction to produce an Aα null (i.e., AαΔ) strain by replacing the genomic Y1 gene with URA1 in an Aα1 strain. To characterize the role of the Aα genes in the regulation of sexual development, we transformed various Aα Y and Z alleles into AαΔ strains and examined the acquired mating types and mating abilities of the transformants. These experiments demonstrate that the Aα Y gene is not essential for fungal viability and growth, that a solitary Z Aα mating-type gene does not itself activate development, that Aβ proteins are sufficient to activate the A developmental pathway in the absence of Aα proteins and confirm that Y and Z genes are the sole determinants of Aα mating type. The data from these experiments support and refine our model of the regulation of A-pathway events by Y and Z proteins.

The origin of multiple mating types in mushrooms

1993 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-230
Author(s):  
U. Kues ◽  
L.A. Casselton
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Multiple Mating ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Mating Partner ◽  
Binucleate Cells ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Mating Type Genes ◽  
And Function ◽  
Developmental Switch ◽  
Sterile Mycelium

Having multiple mating types greatly improves the chances of meeting a compatible mating partner, particularly in an organism like the mushroom that has no sexual differentiation and no mechanism for signalling to a likely mate. Having several thousands of mating types, as some mushrooms do, is, however, remarkable - and even more remarkable is the fact that individuals only recognise that they have met a compatible mate after their cells have fused. How are such large numbers of mating types generated and what is the nature of the intracellular interaction that distinguishes self from non- self? Answers to these fascinating questions come from cloning some of the mating type genes of the ink cap mushroom Coprinus cinereus. A successful mating in Coprinus triggers a major switch in cell type, the conversion of a sterile mycelium with uninucleate cells (monokaryon) to a fertile mycelium with binucleate cells (dikaryon) which differentiates the characteristic fruit bodies. The mating type genes that regulate this developmental switch map to two multiallelic loci designated A and B and these must both carry different alleles for full mating compatibility. A and B independently regulate different steps in the developmental switch, making it possible to study just one component of the system and work in our laboratory has concentrated on understanding the structure and function of the A genes. It is estimated that some 160 different A mating types exist in nature, any two of which can together trigger the A-regulated part of sexual development. The first clue to how such large numbers are generated came from classical genetic analysis, which identified two functionally redundant A loci, (alpha) and beta. Functional redundancy is, indeed, the key to multiple A mating types and, as seen in Fig.1, molecular cloning has identified many more genes than was possible by recombination analysis.

scholarly journals Evolutionary strata on young mating-type chromosomes despite the lack of sexual antagonism

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (27) ◽  
pp. 7067-7072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Branco ◽  
Hélène Badouin ◽  
Ricardo C. Rodríguez de la Vega ◽  
Jérôme Gouzy ◽  
Fantin Carpentier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Smut Fungi ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Recombination Suppression ◽  
Ancestral Gene ◽  
Anther Smut ◽  
Mating Type Genes ◽  
Suppressed Recombination

Sex chromosomes can display successive steps of recombination suppression known as “evolutionary strata,” which are thought to result from the successive linkage of sexually antagonistic genes to sex-determining genes. However, there is little evidence to support this explanation. Here we investigate whether evolutionary strata can evolve without sexual antagonism using fungi that display suppressed recombination extending beyond loci determining mating compatibility despite lack of male/female roles associated with their mating types. By comparing full-length chromosome assemblies from five anther-smut fungi with or without recombination suppression in their mating-type chromosomes, we inferred the ancestral gene order and derived chromosomal arrangements in this group. This approach shed light on the chromosomal fusion underlying the linkage of mating-type loci in fungi and provided evidence for multiple clearly resolved evolutionary strata over a range of ages (0.9–2.1 million years) in mating-type chromosomes. Several evolutionary strata did not include genes involved in mating-type determination. The existence of strata devoid of mating-type genes, despite the lack of sexual antagonism, calls for a unified theory of sex-related chromosome evolution, incorporating, for example, the influence of partially linked deleterious mutations and the maintenance of neutral rearrangement polymorphism due to balancing selection on sexes and mating types.

Evidence for mitochondrial gene control of mating types in Phytophthora

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 934-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Huan Gu ◽  
Wen-Hsiung Ko
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Mitochondrial Gene ◽  
Phytophthora Capsici ◽  
Nuclear Genes ◽  
Gene Control ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Phytophthora Parasitica ◽  
Decisive Effect ◽  
Mating Type Genes ◽  
Fusion Products

When protoplasts carrying metalaxyl-resistant (Mr) nuclei from the A1 isolate of Phytophthora parasitica were fused with protoplasts carrying chloroneb-resistant (Cnr) nuclei from the A2 isolate of the same species, fusion products carrying Mr nuclei were either the A2 or A1A2 type, while those carrying Cnr nuclei were the A1, A2, or A1A2 type. Fusion products carrying Mr and Cnr nuclei also behaved as the A1, A2, or A1A2 type. The result refutes the hypothesis that mating types in Phytophthora are controlled by nuclear genes. When nuclei from the A1 isolate of P. parasitica were fused with protoplasts from the A2 isolate of the same species and vice versa, all of the nuclear hybrids expressed the mating type characteristics of the protoplast parent. The same was true when the nuclei from the A1 isolate of P. parasitica were fused with the protoplasts from the A0 isolate of Phytophthora capsici and vice versa. These results confirm the observation that mating type genes are not located in the nuclei and suggest the presence of mating type genes in the cytoplasms of the recipient protoplasts. When mitochondria from the A1 isolate of P. parasitica were fused with protoplasts from the A2 isolate of the same species, the mating type of three out of five regenerated protoplasts was changed to the A1 type. The result demonstrated the decisive effect of mitochondrial donor sexuality on mating type characteristics of mitochondrial hybrids and suggested the presence of mating type genes in mitochondria. All of the mitochondrial hybrids resulting from the transfer of mitochondria from the A0 isolate of P. capsici into protoplasts from the A1 isolate of P. parasitica were all of the A0 type. The result supports the hypothesis of the presence of mating type genes in mitochondria in Phytophthora.Key words: mating type, mitochondrial gene, Phytophthora parasitica, Phytophthora capsici.

scholarly journals Morpho-Molecular Identification, Pathogenicity Variation, Mating Biology, and Fumonisin Production of Fusarium Species in Zea mays L.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-49
Author(s):  
Narges Atabaki ◽  
Vahid Rahjoo ◽  
Mohamed M. Hanafi ◽  
Rambod Abiri ◽  
Hamidreza Z. Zadeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zea Mays ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Molecular Identification ◽  
Zea Mays L ◽  
Fusarium Species ◽  
Fusarium Verticillioides ◽  
Fusarium Proliferatum ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Wide Range

Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum cause a wide range of maize diseases.  These fungi produce dangerous mycotoxins, such as fumonisin B1, which are important threats to humans and animals. Given this predicament, the present study aimed to identify the fungi both molecular-morphologically and also investigate the pathogenicity variation and mating type of 41 Fusarium strains in maize (Zea mays L.) samples with sifting their fumonisin contents.  Furthermore, species-specific primers for the molecular identification of distinct strains amplified 2 fragments of 578 and 800 bp in Fusarium verticillioides, while a single 585 bp band was amplified in Fusarium proliferatum.  Accordingly, 24 isolates out of 41 were identified as F. verticillioides, and 13 isolates were identified as F. proliferatum.  The fumonisin-producing and non-producing Fusarium strains were identified using the VERTF-1/VERTF-2 primers.  A total of 24 isolates of F. verticillioides were positively scored based on the amplification of a single 400 bp fragment.  The highest and lowest fumonisin content, as measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), belonged to strains MS1 and MG3, respectively, and ranged from 960-12673 and 4.07-23 ppm, respectively.  Additionally, the mating type test showed that the sexual form of the studied Fusarium species could possibly belong to the A and D mating populations.  In vivo and in vitro pathogenicity tests revealed a high susceptibility.

scholarly journals Molecular Identification of Mating Type Genes in Asexually Reproducing Fusarium Oxysporum and F. Culmorum

2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Irzykowska ◽  
Tomasz Kosiada
Keyword(s):  
Fusarium Oxysporum ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Molecular Identification ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Sexual Stage ◽  
Reproduction Mode ◽  
Successful Control ◽  
Mating Type Genes

Molecular Identification of Mating Type Genes in Asexually ReproducingFusarium OxysporumandF. CulmorumSexually (homothallic and heterothallic) and asexually reproducing species belong to theFusariumgenus. So far, there is no known sexual stage of theF. oxysporumSchlechtend.: Fr. andF. culmorum(W.G. Smith) Sacc. Knowing the reproduction mode is important for the design of successful control strategies, since they are different for clonally and sexually reproducing organisms. In examined sets of asexualF. oxysporumandF. culmorumisolates, the DNA sequences of mating type genes (idiomorphsMAT-1andMAT-2) were identified.MAT-1sequence was detected for 33 and 40% ofF. oxysporumandF. culmorumisolates, respectively. For the remaining isolates a sequence specific forMAT-2was amplified.

scholarly journals Ste11p, a High-Mobility-Group Box DNA-Binding Protein, Undergoes Pheromone- and Nutrient-Regulated Nuclear-Cytoplasmic Shuttling

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 3253-3264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Qin ◽  
Wenfei Kang ◽  
Betty Leung ◽  
Maureen McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Dna Binding ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nuclear Export ◽  
Cellular Localization ◽  
Nuclear Export Signal ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
High Mobility Group ◽  
Nuclear Accumulation ◽  
Leptomycin B ◽  
Hmg Box

ABSTRACT The high-mobility-group (HMG) box is a conserved DNA-binding domain found in a family of transcription factors that regulate growth and development. One family member, Ste11p, directs sexual differentiation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe by binding specific DNA sequences upstream of genes required for mating and meiosis. Here, we show that Ste11p is a shuttling protein. In growing cells, Ste11p is present in low levels and is pancellular. Mating pheromones and nutrient limitation trigger nuclear accumulation and increased expression of the transcription factor. Several mechanisms likely control Ste11p localization. First, the 14-3-3 protein, Rad24p, binds phosphorylated Ste11p and inhibits its nuclear accumulation. Second, the HMG domain of Ste11p contains a basic cluster nuclear localization signal. Finally, treatment of cells with leptomycin B, an exportin inhibitor, results in the nuclear accumulation of Ste11p. A Ste11p deletion mutation, ΔC54, mimics the effects of leptomycin B. The C54 region contains no identifiable nuclear export signal but instead is required for biological activity and to stimulate Ste11p target gene expression. These results provide evidence that both nuclear import and export mechanisms operate to regulate cellular localization of an HMG box protein. In addition, they establish a paradigm for the potential role of pheromone/hormone-like polypeptides in cellular localization of this important class of developmental regulators.

scholarly journals The Specificity Determinant of the Y Mating-Type Proteins of Schizophyllum commune Is Also Essential for Y-Z Protein Binding

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changli Yue ◽  
Michael Osier ◽  
Charles P Novotny ◽  
Robert C Ullrich
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Protein Binding ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Schizophyllum Commune ◽  
Mating Types ◽  
Mating Activity ◽  
Critical Residues ◽  
Mating Type Genes ◽  
Z Protein ◽  
Mating Tests

This paper concerns the manner in which combinatorial mating proteins of the fungus, Schizophyllum commune, recognize one another to form complexes that regulate target gene expression. In Schizophyllum, tightly linked Y and Z mating-type genes do not promote development in the combinations present in haploid strains (i.e., self combinations). When the Y and Z genes from two different mating types are brought together by the fusion of two haploid cells, the Y and Z proteins from different mating types recognize one another as nonself; form a complex and activate development. Several Y and Z alleles are present in the population and all nonself combinations of Y and Z alleles are equally functional. We have made chimeric genes among Y1, Y3, Y4 and Y5 and examined their mating-type specificities by transformation and mating tests. These studies show that the specificity of Y protein recognized by Z protein is encoded within a short region of N-terminal amino acids. The critical region is not precisely the same in each Y protein and in each Y-Z protein interaction. For Y3 protein compared with Y4 protein, the critical residues are in an N-terminal region of 56 amino acids (residues 17–72), with 40% identity and 65% similarity. Two-hybrid studies show that: the first 144 amino acids of Y4 protein are sufficient to bind Z3 and Z5 proteins, but not Z4 protein, and proteins deleted of the Y4 specificity region do not bind Z3, Z4 or Z5 protein. Thus the specificity determinant of the Y protein is essential for protein-protein recognition, Y-Z protein binding and mating activity.

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