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Asymmetry in sexual pheromones is not required for ascomycete mating.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the determinants of sexual identity in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The higher fungi are divided into the ascomycetes and the basidiomycetes. Most ascomycetes have two mating types: one (called ? in yeasts and MAT1-1 in filamentous fungi) produces a small, unmodified, peptide pheromone, and the other (a in yeasts and MAT1-2 in filamentous fungi) produces a peptide pheromone conjugated to a C-terminal farnesyl group that makes it very hydrophobic. In the basidiomycetes, all pheromones are lipid-modified, and this difference is a distinguishing feature between the phyla. We asked whether the asymmetry in pheromone modification is required for successful mating in ascomycetes.We cloned receptor and pheromone genes from a filamentous ascomycete and a basidiomycete and expressed these in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to generate novel, alternative mating pairs. We find that two yeast cells can mate even when both cells secrete a-like or ?-like peptides. Importantly, this is true regardless of whether the cells express the a- or ?-mating-type loci, which control the expression of other, sex-specific genes, in addition to the pheromones and pheromone receptors.We demonstrate that the asymmetric pheromone modification is not required for successful mating of ascomycete fungi and confirm that, in budding yeast, the primary determinants of mating are the specificity of the receptors and their corresponding pheromones.

SUBMITTER: Goncalves-Sa J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3159855 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Asymmetry in sexual pheromones is not required for ascomycete mating.

Gonçalves-Sá Joana J Murray Andrew A

Current biology : CB 20110811 16

<h4>Background</h4>We investigated the determinants of sexual identity in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The higher fungi are divided into the ascomycetes and the basidiomycetes. Most ascomycetes have two mating types: one (called α in yeasts and MAT1-1 in filamentous fungi) produces a small, unmodified, peptide pheromone, and the other (a in yeasts and MAT1-2 in filamentous fungi) produces a peptide pheromone conjugated to a C-terminal farnesyl group that makes it very hydrophobic. ...[more]

PMID: 21835624

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Project description:The sexual mating of the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans is important for pathogenesis studies because the fungal virulence is linked to the alpha mating type (MAT(alpha)). We characterized C. neoformans mating pheromones (MF(alpha) 1 and MFa1) from 122 strains to understand intervariety hybridization or mating and intervariety virulence. MF(alpha) 1 in three C. neoformans varieties showed (a) specific nucleotide polymorphisms, (b) different copy numbers and chromosomal localizations, and (c) unique deduced amino acids in two geographic populations of C. neoformans var. gattii. MF(alpha) 1 of different varieties cross-hybridized in Southern hybridizations. Their phylogenetic analyses showed purifying selection (neutral evolution). These observations suggested that MAT(alpha) strains from any of the three C. neoformans varieties could mate or hybridize in nature with MATa strains of C. neoformans var. neoformans. A few serotype A/D diploid strains provided evidence for mating or hybridization, while a majority of A/D strains tested positive for haploid MF(alpha) 1 identical to that of C. neoformans var. grubii. MF(alpha) 1 sequence and copy numbers in diploids were identical to those of C. neoformans var. grubii, while their MFa1 sequences were identical to those of C. neoformans var. neoformans; thus, these strains were hybrids. The mice survival curves and histological lesions revealed A/D diploids to be highly pathogenic, with pathogenicity levels similar to that of the C. neoformans var. grubii type strain and unlike the low pathogenicity levels of C. neoformans var. neoformans strains. In contrast to MF(alpha) 1 in three varieties, MFa1 amplicons and hybridization signals could be obtained only from two C. neoformans var. neoformans reference strains and eight A/D diploids. This suggested that a yet undiscovered MFa pheromone(s) in C. neoformans var. gattii and C. neoformans var. grubii is unrelated to, highly divergent from, or rarer than that in C. neoformans var. neoformans. These observations could form the basis for future studies on the role of intervariety mating in C. neoformans biology and virulence.

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Asymmetry in sexual pheromones is not required for ascomycete mating.

Publications

Asymmetry in sexual pheromones is not required for ascomycete mating.

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