Pheromone interactions and ionic communication in gametes of aquatic fungusAllomyces macrogynus

Pommerville, Jeffrey C.; Strickland, J. B.; Harding, Kenn E.

doi:10.1007/bf01021274

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In contrast to the apusozoan and animals in which four CatSper α subunits form a heterotetrameric channel complex, A. macrogynus is the only species known to possess more than four copies of CatSper α subunits. Similar to its animal counterparts, Ca 2+ influx appears to be important for sperm cell motility in A. macrogynus , which is initiated in response to a sexual pheromone, sirenin, released by female gametes (Pommerville, Strickland, and Harding 1990). Whether CatSper channels underlie the molecular mechanisms for sperm cell activation in A. macrogynus remains to be studied.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancestral Ca2+ Signaling Machinery in Early Animal and Fungal Evolution

Cai

Clapham

2011

Molecular Biology and Evolution

120

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Animals and fungi diverged from a common unicellular ancestor of Opisthokonta, yet they exhibit significant differences in their components of Ca2+ signaling pathways. Many Ca2+ signaling molecules appear to be either animal-specific or fungal-specific, which is generally believed to result from lineage-specific adaptations to distinct physiological requirements. Here, by analyzing the genomic data from several close relatives of animals and fungi, we demonstrate that many components of animal and fungal Ca2+ signaling machineries are present in the apusozoan protist Thecamonas trahens, which belongs to the putative unicellular sister group to Opisthokonta. We also identify the conserved portion of Ca2+ signaling molecules in early evolution of animals and fungi following their divergence. Furthermore, our results reveal the lineage-specific expansion of Ca2+ channels and transporters in the unicellular ancestors of animals and in basal fungi. These findings provide novel insights into the evolution and regulation of Ca2+ signaling critical for animal and fungal biology.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancestral Ca2+ Signaling Machinery in Early Animal and Fungal Evolution

Cai

Clapham

2011

Molecular Biology and Evolution

120

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“…Alternatively, it remains a possibility that the presence of the CatSper complex in A. limacinum might be caused by a horizontal gene transfer event from basal fungal species. In humans and in A. macrogynus , sperm cell motility can be regulated by Ca 2+ influx in response to progesterone (Lishko, Botchkina, and Kirichok 2011; Strunker et al 2011) or sex pheromones (Pommerville, Strickland, and Harding 1990), respectively. Activation of the CatSper complex by environmental signals such as progesterone and pH changes induces Ca 2+ influx in human sperm.…”

Section: The Catsper Ca2+ Channel Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Evolution of the Eukaryotic Ca2+ Signaling Machinery: Conservation of the CatSper Channel Complex

Cai¹,

Clapham²

2014

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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Calcium signaling is one of the most extensively employed signal transduction mechanisms in life. As life evolved into increasingly complex organisms, Ca2+ acquired more extensive and varied functions. Here we compare genes encoding proteins that govern Ca2+ entry and exit across cells or organelles within organisms of early eukaryotic evolution into fungi, plants, and animals. Recent phylogenomics analyses reveal a complex Ca2+ signaling machinery in the apusozoan protist Thecamonas trahens, a putative unicellular progenitor of Opisthokonta. We compare T. trahens Ca2+ signaling to that in a marine bikont protist, Aurantiochytrium limacinum, and demonstrate the conservation of key Ca2+ signaling molecules in the basally diverging alga Cyanophora paradoxa. Particularly, our findings reveal the conservation of the CatSper channel complex in A. limacinum and C. paradoxa, suggesting that the CatSper complex likely originated from an ancestral Ca2+ signaling machinery at the root of early eukaryotic evolution prior to the unikont/bikont split.

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“…Female gametes are unaffected by sirenin but are attracted to a lesserstudied pheromone secreted by male gametes, called parisin. While the structure of parisin is not known, it is thought to be similar to sirenin and stable in response to a variety of chemical and environmental stresses (238,239). These highly effective nonpeptide pheromones promote high rates of gamete fusion.…”

Section: Allomyces Macrogynus: a Model Homothallic Fungusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…macrogynus males and females secrete nonpeptide sexual pheromones that enable the gametes to locate the opposite sex. Female gametangia and gametes secrete a low-molecularmass (236 Da) pheromone called sirenin, named after the Sirens, the seductive bird-women of Greek mythology (239). This pheromone has been purified (183), and its structure has been elucidated (Fig.…”

Section: Allomyces Macrogynus: a Model Homothallic Fungusmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Sex: a Perspective from the Fungal Kingdom

Lee

et al. 2010

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

323

344

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SUMMARY Sex is shrouded in mystery. Not only does it preferentially occur in the dark for both fungi and many animals, but evolutionary biologists continue to debate its benefits given costs in light of its pervasive nature. Experimental studies of the benefits and costs of sexual reproduction with fungi as model systems have begun to provide evidence that the balance between sexual and asexual reproduction shifts in response to selective pressures. Given their unique evolutionary history as opisthokonts, along with metazoans, fungi serve as exceptional models for the evolution of sex and sex-determining regions of the genome (the mating type locus) and for transitions that commonly occur between outcrossing/self-sterile and inbreeding/self-fertile modes of reproduction. We review here the state of the understanding of sex and its evolution in the fungal kingdom and also areas where the field has contributed and will continue to contribute to illuminating general principles and paradigms of sexual reproduction.

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Pheromone interactions and ionic communication in gametes of aquatic fungusAllomyces macrogynus

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

Ancestral Ca2+ Signaling Machinery in Early Animal and Fungal Evolution

Ancestral Ca2+ Signaling Machinery in Early Animal and Fungal Evolution

Early Evolution of the Eukaryotic Ca2+ Signaling Machinery: Conservation of the CatSper Channel Complex

The Evolution of Sex: a Perspective from the Fungal Kingdom

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