A single mating-type locus composed of homeodomain genes promotes nuclear migration and heterokaryosis in the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

ABSTRACT: The white-rot basidiomycete fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium (Agaricomycetes) is a model species that produces potent wood-degrading enzymes. The mating system of the species has been difficult to characterize due to its cryptic fruiting habit and lack of clamp connections in the heterokaryotic phase. By exploiting the draft genome sequence, we reevaluated the mating system of P. chrysosporium by studying the inheritance and segregation of putative mating-type gene homologues, the homeodomain transcription factor genes (MAT-A) and the pheromone receptors (MAT-B). A pattern of mating incompatibility and fructification consistent with a bipolar system with a single MAT locus was observed, but the rejection response was much weaker than that seen in other agaricomycete species, leading to s

SUBMITTER: James TY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3067404 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature