Pheromone expression reveals putative mechanism of unisexuality in a saprobic ascomycete fungus.

ABSTRACT: Homothallism (self-fertility) describes a wide variety of sexual strategies that enable a fungus to reproduce in the absence of a mating partner. Unisexual reproduction, a form of homothallism, is a process whereby a fungus can progress through sexual reproduction in the absence of mating genes previously considered essential for self-fertility. In this study, we consider the molecular mechanisms that allow for this unique sexual behaviour in the saprotrophic ascomycete; Huntiella moniliformis. These molecular mechanisms are also compared to the underlying mechanisms that control sex in Huntiella omanensis, a closely related, but self-sterile, species. The main finding was that H. omanensis displayed mating-type dependent expression of the a- and α-pheromones. This was in contrast to H. mo

SUBMITTER: Wilson AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5837088 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature