Mating incompatibility in mushroom fungi is controlled by the mating-type loci. In tetrapolar species, two unlinked mating-type loci exist (A and B), whereas in bipolar species there is only one locus. The A and B mating-type loci encode homeodomain transcription factors and pheromones and pheromone receptors, respectively. Most mushroom species have a tetrapolar mating system, but numerous transitions to bipolar mating systems have occurred. Here we determined the genes controlling mating type in the bipolar mushroom Coprinellus disseminatus. Through positional cloning and degenerate PCR, we sequenced both the transcription factor and pheromone receptor mating-type gene homologs from C. disseminatus. Only the transcription factor genes segregate with mating type, discounting the hypothesis of genetic linkage between the A and B mating-type loci as the causal origin of bipolar mating behavior. The mating-type locus of C. disseminatus is similar to the A mating-type locus of the model species Coprinopsis cinerea and encodes two tightly linked pairs of homeodomain transcription factor genes. When transformed into C. cinerea, the C. disseminatus A and B homologs elicited sexual reactions like native matingtype genes. Although mating type in C. disseminatus is controlled by only the transcription factor genes, cellular functions appear to be conserved for both groups of genes. M ATING in fungi is controlled by the loci that determine the mating type of an individual, and only individuals with differing mating types can mate. Basidiomycete fungi have evolved a unique mating system, termed tetrapolar or bifactorial incompatibility, in which mating type is determined by two unlinked loci; compatibility at both loci is required for mating to occur. The origin of the tetrapolar mating system in the basidiomycetes is likely to be ancient since it is observed in at least two of the three major lineages, the Ustilaginomycetes, or smut fungi, and the Hymenomycetes, primarily the mushroom fungi (Burnett 1975). Also unique to the basidiomycetes is the presence of multiple alleles at the mating-type loci that allows most individuals within a population to be mating compatible with one another. Only the mushroom-forming homobasidiomycetes possess large allelic series at both loci, typically termed the A and B mating-type loci (Whitehouse 1949;Raper 1966).The multiallelic tetrapolar mating system is considered to be a novel innovation that could have only evolved once (Raper 1966;Raper and Flexer 1971). For this reason, the ancestor of the homobasidiomycetes is accepted as having a tetrapolar mating system. Although most (65%) of the homobasidiomycetes possess a tetrapolar mating system, many species (25%) instead have a bipolar system controlled by a single locus with multiple alleles (Raper 1966). The distribution of bipolar species is scattered throughout the homobasidiomycete phylogeny, and bipolar species appear to have multiple independent origins from tetrapolar mating systems (Hibbett and Donoghue 2001). The popul...

The self-compatible Coprinopsis cinerea homokaryon AmutBmut produces fruiting bodies without prior mating to another strain. Early stages of fruiting body development include the dark-dependent formation of primary hyphal knots and their light-induced transition to the more compact secondary hyphal knots. The AmutBmut UV mutant 6-031 forms primary hyphal knots, but development arrests at the transition state by a recessive defect in the cfs1 gene, isolated from a cosmid library by mutant complementation. A normal primordia phenotype was achieved when cfs11 was embedded at both sides in at least 4.0 kb of native flanking DNA. Truncations of the flanking DNA lead to reduction in transformation frequencies and faults in primordia tissue formation, suggesting that the gene is also acting at later stages of development. The cfs1 gene encodes a protein highly similar to cyclopropane fatty acid synthases, a class of enzymes shown in prokaryotes and recently in a plant to convert membrane-bound unsaturated fatty acids into cyclopropane fatty acids. In C. cinerea 6-031, the mutant cfs1 allele carries a T-to-G transversion, leading to an amino acid substitution (Y441D) in a domain suggested to be involved in the catalytic function of the protein and/or membrane interaction.

Coprinopsis cinerea is an excellent model for study of sexual reproduction and development in basidiomycetes because of its short-life cycle, capability to grow and fruit on artificial media under laboratory conditions. Deepening the understanding of genes underlying sexual reproduction and development in this mushroom model is expected to help in the future the world mushroom cultivation of any other basidiomycetes concerning the potential agronomic, economic and environmental benefits. This study presents findings with clear statements from the literature as well as own results focusing on the genetic analysis of genes acting in sexual reproduction and development in C. cinerea. Sexual reproduction and development in C. cinerea are regulated by the A and B mating type genes that encode two types of homeodomain transcription factors, pheromones and pheromone receptors, respectively. Coprinopsis cinerea has two different mycelial stages defined as the monokaryotic-(primary) and dikaryotic-(secondary) mycelium. When two compatible haploid monokaryons with different mating type alleles at A and B loci are fused, the fertile dikaryons are formed and developed into fruiting bodies, indicating that mating type genes regulate sexual development in C. cinerea. Self-fertile homokaryon AmutBmut strain with mutations in the A and B mating loci is ideal for production of mutants in fruiting body formation. Co-isogenic strains were generated by the repeated back-crossing against AmutBmut to analyze the genetic background of such mutants and the functions of genes in the fruiting pathway. Genetic analysis of AmutBmut fruiting mutants that are blocked at different stages in fruiting pathway will be described.

No abstract

No abstract