Ubiquitin immunoreactivity shows several proteins varying with development and sporulation in the basidiomycete Coprinus cinereus

Crude extracts of mycelia and basidiocarp primordia in the basidiomycete Coprinus cinereus were resolved on sodium dodecyl sulfate – polyacrylamide gels, and ubiquitin and several proteins were detected by immunoblotting with anti-ubiquitin antibody. The molecular masses of the proteins detected were 30 900, 28 600, 27 800, 26 300, 22 500, and 15 400 daltons, respectively. Relative levels of ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-immunoreactive proteins were measured in different stages of development. The levels of ubiquitin and most of the ubiquitin-immunoreactive proteins in basidiocarp primordium formation increased and in basidiocarp maturation decreased in cap and upper stipe, while in lower stipe became high except for the 27 800 dalton protein and ubiquitin. During sporulation, ubiquitin and all the ubiquitin-immunoreactive proteins tended to decrease in the cap of the young wild-type basidiocarp. The levels of 30 900 and 15 400 dalton proteins increased transiently at 6–10 h after the beginning of the last light period, while ubiquitin decreased markedly. No correlation was observed between changes in levels of the ubiquitin-immunoreactive proteins and the blocked stages in sporulation-deficient mutants.Key words: ubiquitin, development, sporulation, Coprinus.