Recombination hotspots flank the Cryptococcus mating-type locus: implications for the evolution of a fungal sex chromosome.

ABSTRACT: Recombination increases dramatically during meiosis to promote genetic exchange and generate recombinant progeny. Interestingly, meiotic recombination is unevenly distributed throughout genomes, and, as a consequence, genetic and physical map distances do not have a simple linear relationship. Recombination hotspots and coldspots have been described in many organisms and often reflect global features of chromosome structure. In particular, recombination frequencies are often distorted within or outside sex-determining regions of the genome. Here, we report that recombination is elevated adjacent to the mating-type locus (MAT) in the pathogenic basidiomycete Cryptococcus neoformans. Among fungi, C. neoformans has an unusually large MAT locus, and recombination is suppressed between the two

SUBMITTER: Hsueh YP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1630710 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature