A SEARCH FOR COMPLEXITY AT THE MATING-TYPE LOCUS OF NEUROSPORA CRASSA

1973 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 577-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Newmeyer ◽  
H. Branch Howe Jr. ◽  
Donna R. Galeazzi
Keyword(s):  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Adjacent Gene ◽  
Opposite Mating Type ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Linked Gene ◽  
Heterokaryon Incompatibility ◽  
Mating Type Locus ◽  
Incompatibility Reaction ◽  
The Right

Evidence for complexity at the mating-type locus of Neurospora crassa was sought by selecting recombinants between closely linked markers on either side. All recombinants were tested for crossing ability, to test the hypothesis that the two mating-type alleles are actually closely linked self-sterile mutants; such tests should also detect subunits analogous to the α and β subunits of the A factor of Schizophyllum or Coprinus. No change in crossing ability was found among the 5,019 recombinants tested, representing 235,000 viable ascospores. The results indicate that if subunits exist, they are not more than 0.002 units apart. Twelve hundred and forty of the recombinants were tested in a way that should also have detected subunits analogous to the A and B factors of Schizophyllum and Coprinus, except that A and B would be closely linked. No such subunits were detected.N. crassa strains of opposite mating type are heterokaryon-incompatible during vegetative growth, and observations of various investigators have suggested that the heterokaryon incompatibility might be controlled by a separate closely-linked gene rather than by mating type itself. A sample of the recombinants was therefore tested for separation of the heterokaryon-incompatibility and crossing-compatibility functions. (Heterokaryon-incompatibility was scored by the presence of an incompatibility reaction in duplications heterozygous for mating type; this technique is simple and eliminates complications due to unlinked heterokaryon-incompatibility loci, several of which are known in N. crassa.) No separation was found. The results indicate that if an adjacent gene is responsible for the heterokaryon-incompatibility, it is not more than 0.0078 units from mating type, if on the left, and not more than 0.018 units from mating type, if on the right.

ESCAPE FROM MATING-TYPE INCOMPATIBILITY IN BISEXUAL (A + a) NEUROSPORA HETEROKARYONS

1975 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. DeLange ◽  
A. J. F. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Opposite Mating Type ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Heterokaryon Incompatibility ◽  
Recessive Mutant ◽  
Type Rate ◽  
Wild Type Rate ◽  
Incompatibility Locus

In Neurospora crassa, strains of opposite mating type generally do not form stable heterokaryons because the mating type locus acts as a heterokaryon incompatibility locus. However, when one A and one a strain, having complementing auxotrophic mutants, are placed together on minimal medium, growth may occur, although the growth is generally slow. In this study, escape from such slow growth to that at a wild type or near-wild type rate was observed. The escaped cultures are stable heterokaryons, mostly having lost the mating type allele function from one component nucleus, so that the nuclear types are heterokaryon compatible. Either A or a mating type can be lost. This loss of function has been attributed to deletion since only one nuclear type could be recovered in all heterokaryons except one, but deletion spanning adjacent loci has been directly demonstrated in a minority of cases. Alternatively when one component strain is tol and the other tol+ (tol being a recessive mutant suppressing the heterokaryon incompatibility associated with mating type), escape may occur by the deletion or mutation of tol+, also resulting in heterokaryon compatibility. An induction mechanism for escape is speculated upon.

scholarly journals A Second Gene Controlling Allelic Recombination in Neurospora Crassa

1966 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
DG Catoheside
Keyword(s):  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Locus

Experiments to determine whether rec-l, which increases allelic recombinationat the his-l locus in Neurospora crassa, also affects the am locus disclosed anothergene, rec-3. It appears that ree-l is specific to his-l and that ree-3 is specific to am, inthe sense that his-l is insensitive to rec-3 and am is insensitive to ree-l. The locus of rec-l is 18�9 units from the am his-l region; rec-3 is linked either to the am his-l region or to the mating type locus and 12�1 units from the relevant region.

MUTATIONS OF THE a MATING-TYPE GENE IN NEUROSPORA CRASSA

Genetics ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
A J F Griffiths ◽  
A M DeLange
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
Chromosome 1 ◽  
Selection System ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Heterokaryon Incompatibility ◽  
Mating Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Gene ◽  
Type Gene ◽  
Restoration Of Fertility

ABSTRACT In Neurospora, the mating-type locus controls both mating (A + a is fertile) and heterokaryosis (A + a is incompatible). The two alleles appear stable: no novel fertility reactions have ever been reported, and attempts to separate fertility and heterokaryon incompatibility functions by recombination have been unsuccessful. In the present approach the locus was studied through a mutational analysis of heterokaryon incompatibility function. A selection system was used that detects vigorous (A + a) heterokaryotic colonies against a background of inhibited growth. Twenty-five mutants of an a strain were produced following mutagenic treatment with UV and NG: 15 were viable as homokaryons and 10 were not. All but one were infertile, but most showed an abortive mating reaction involving the production of barren, well-developed perithecia with A and (surprisingly) a testers. None of the mutants complement each other to restore fertility. Seven mutants have been mapped to the mating-type locus region of chromosome 1. Restoration of fertility was used to detect revertants, and these were found in five out of the eight mutants tested. (A dose response was observed). In four cases incompatibility was fully restored and in one case it was not.—The results suggest two positive actions of the locus when in heterozygous (A/a) combination (the stimulation of some stage of ascus production and the inhibition of vegetative heterokaryosis), and one positive action in homozygous combination (the production of a perithecial inhibitor).

New mutations that suppress mating-type vegetative incompatibility in Neurospora crassa

Genome ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tia S. Vellani ◽  
Anthony J. F. Griffiths ◽  
N. Louise Glass
Keyword(s):  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Vegetative Incompatibility ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Regulatory Locus ◽  
Mating Type Locus ◽  
Recessive Mutations ◽  
Incompatibility Locus ◽  
New Alleles ◽  
New Mutations

The mating-type locus in the ascomycete Neurospora crassa functions as a vegetative-incompatibility locus during asexual growth such that A + a heterokaryons and A/a partial diploids are inhibited in their growth. In this study, we sought mutations that suppress mating-type associated vegetative incompatibility by using A/a partial diploids. Mutants were selected as spontaneous escapes from inhibited growth. Suppressors were identified by selecting escapes that retained the capacity to mate with both A and a strains. The escaped partial diploids were then outcrossed to remove the duplication. Seven suppressors were identified that segregated as single, recessive mutations. All seven of the suppressors were shown to be allelic to a previously obtained suppressor, tol, by segregation analyses and heterokaryon tests. This result indicates that all seven mutations are new alleles of tol and suggests that tol is a key regulatory locus in the expression of mating-type associated vegetative incompatibility in N. crassa.Key words: vegetative incompatibility, mating type, suppressors, Neurospora.

Effects of thetolmutation on allelic interactions athetloci inNeurospora crassa

Genome ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 834-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Leslie ◽  
Carl T. Yamashiro
Keyword(s):  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Vegetative Compatibility ◽  
Vegetative Incompatibility ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Locus ◽  
Inneurospora Crassa ◽  
Incompatibility Reactions

A mutant at the tol locus of Neurospora crassa can suppress heterokaryon (vegetative) incompatibility associated with differences at the mating-type locus. We tested the ability of this allele to suppress the vegetative incompatibility reactions that can occur when strains differ at one of nine het loci (het-C, -D, -E, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9, and -10). We found no cases in which the tol mutant suppresses a heteroallelic het locus interaction. Thus, the interaction(s) that leads to vegetative incompatibility because of differences at the mating-type locus is distinct from the interaction(s) that leads to vegetative incompatibility because of differences at any of these nine het loci.Key words: heterokaryon, mating type, vegetative compatibility.

scholarly journals Molecular Characterization of tol, a Mediator of Mating-Type-Associated Vegetative Incompatibility in Neurospora crassa

Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 151 (2) ◽  
pp. 545-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Ka Tai Shiu ◽  
N Louise Glass
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Vegetative Growth ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Coiled Coil ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Opposite Mating Type ◽  
Type Locus

Abstract The mating-type locus in the haploid filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, controls mating and sexual development. The fusion of reproductive structures of opposite mating type, A and a, is required to initiate sexual reproduction. However, the fusion of hyphae of opposite mating type during vegetative growth results in growth inhibition and cell death, a process that is mediated by the tol locus. Mutations in tol are recessive and suppress mating-type-associated heterokaryon incompatibility. In this study, we describe the cloning and characterization of tol. The tol gene encodes a putative 1011-amino-acid polypeptide with a coiled-coil domain and a leucine-rich repeat. Both regions are required for tol activity. Repeat-induced point mutations in tol result in mutants that are wild type during vegetative growth and sexual reproduction, but that allow opposite mating-type individuals to form a vigorous heterokaryon. Transcript analyses show that tol mRNA is present during vegetative growth but absent during a cross. These data suggest that tol transcription is repressed to allow the coexistence of opposite mating-type nuclei during the sexual reproductive phase. tol is expressed in a mat A, mat a, A/a partial diploid and in a mating-type deletion strain, indicating that MAT A-1 and MAT a-1 are not absolutely required for transcription or repression of tol. These data suggest that TOL may rather interact with MAT A-1 and/or MAT a-1 (or downstream products) to form a death-triggering complex.

scholarly journals MAPPING OF THE HOMOTHALLIC GENES, HMα AND HM  a, IN SACCHAROMYCES YEASTS

Genetics ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-451
Author(s):  
Satoshi Harashima ◽  
Yasuji Oshima
Keyword(s):  
Mating Type ◽  
The Other ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Locus ◽  
Direct Linkage ◽  
Expected Values ◽  
Chromosome Iii ◽  
The Right ◽  
Saccharomyces Yeasts ◽  
Three Factor

ABSTRACT Two of the three homothallic genes, HMα and HM  a, showed direct linkage to the mating-type locus at approximately 73 and 98 stranes (57 and 65 centimorgans [cM]), respectively, whereas, the other, HO, showed no linkage to 25 standard markers distributed over 17 chromosomes including the mating-type locus. To determine whether the HMα and HM  a loci located on the left or right side of the mating-type locus, equations for three factor analysis of three linked genes were derived. Tetrad data were collected and were compared with expected values by X2 statistics. Calculations indicated that the HMα gene is probably located on the right arm at 95 stranes (65 cM) from the centromere and the HM  a locus at approximately 90 stranes (64 cM) on the left arm of chromosome III.

scholarly journals The Neurospora crassa pheromone precursor genes are regulated by the mating type locus and the circadian clock

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Bobrowicz ◽  
Rebecca Pawlak ◽  
Alejandro Correa ◽  
Deborah Bell-Pedersen ◽  
Daniel J. Ebbole
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Clock ◽  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Type Locus ◽  
Mating Type Locus
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