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Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., 12 1997, 411-428, Vol 61, No. 4
E Coppin, R Debuchy, S Arnaise and M Picard
The progress made in the molecular characterization of the mating types in
several filamentous ascomycetes has allowed us to better understand their
role in sexual development and has brought to light interesting biological
problems. The mating types of Neurospora crassa, Podospora anserina, and
Cochliobolus heterostrophus consist of unrelated and unique sequences
containing one or several genes with multiple functions, related to
sexuality or not, such as vegetative incompatibility in N. crassa. The
presence of putative DNA binding domains in the proteins encoded by the
mating-type (mat) genes suggests that they may be transcriptional factors.
The mat genes play a role in cell-cell recognition at fertilization,
probably by activating the genes responsible for the hormonal signal whose
occurrence was previously demonstrated by physiological experiments. They
also control recognition between nuclei at a later stage, when reproductive
nuclei of each mating type which have divided in the common cytoplasm pair
within the ascogenous hyphae. How self is distinguished from nonself at the
nuclear level is not known. The finding that homothallic species, able to
mate in the absence of a partner, contain both mating types in the same
haploid genome has raised more issues than it has resolved. The instability
of the mating type, in particular in Sclerotinia trifolorium and Botrytinia
fuckeliana, is also unexplained. This diversity of mating systems, still
more apparent if the yeasts and the basidiomycetes are taken into account,
clearly shows that no single species can serve as a universal mating-type
model.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
Mating types and sexual development in filamentous ascomycetes [In Process Citation]
Institut de Genetique et Microbiologie, CNRS-URA 2225, Universite Paris- Sud, Orsay, France. Coppin@igmors.u-psud.fr
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