Sex in smut fungi: Structure, function and evolution of mating-type complexes

Bakkeren, Guus; Kämper, Jörg; Schirawski, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2008.04.005

Cited by 112 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…A1-A2 DNA sequence divergence in this region cannot be calculated due to inability to align the sequences from the two mating types, and divergence at the protein level in the pheromone receptor locus is very high (A1-A2 protein identity = 28.4%; Devier et al 2009). Suppression of recombination in this ancient stratum around the pheromone receptor is necessary to prevent recombination between the pheromone and pheromone receptor genes to ensure recognition of the opposite mating type (Kahman and Schirawski 2007;Bakkeren et al 2008). This stratum has probably been maintained by balancing selection ever since early in fungal history (Devier et al 2009).…”

Section: Evolutionary Stratamentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent and Massive Expansion of the Mating-Type-Specific Region in the Smut Fungus Microbotryum

Whittle¹,

Votintseva

Ridout

et al. 2015

Genetics

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The presence of large genomic regions with suppressed recombination (SR) is a key shared property of some sex-and mating-type determining (mat) chromosomes identified to date in animals, plants, and fungi. Why such regions form and how they evolve remain central questions in evolutionary genetics. The smut fungus Microbotryum lychnis-dioicae is a basidiomycete fungus in which dimorphic mat chromosomes have been reported, but the size, age, and evolutionary dynamics of the SR region remains unresolved. To identify the SR region in M. lychnis-dioicae and to study its evolution, we sequenced 12 genomes (6 per mating type) of this species and identified the genomic contigs that show fixed sequence differences between the mating types. We report that the SR region spans more than half of the mat chromosome (.2.3 Mbp) and that it is of very recent origin (2 3 10 6 years) as the average sequence divergence between mating types was only 2% in the SR region. This contrasts with a much higher divergence in and around the mating-type determining pheromone receptor locus in the SR, suggesting a recent and massive expansion of the SR region. Our results comprise the first reported case of recent massive SR expansion documented in a basidiomycete fungus.

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Section: Evolutionary Stratamentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent and Massive Expansion of the Mating-Type-Specific Region in the Smut Fungus Microbotryum

Whittle¹,

Votintseva

Ridout

et al. 2015

Genetics

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“…There is a series of recent and classic reviews discussing the MAT locus in a wide variety of fungi from the fundamental model mating system Saccharomyces cerevisiae to the mating and virulence of human-pathogenic fungi and to the mushroom fungi (8,31,80,99,111,137,140,148,161,192,207,253).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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“…Mating in U. hordei is controlled by a single mating-type locus (MAT) with two known allelic specificities, MAT-1 and MAT-2 (Bakkeren and Kronstad, 1994;Bakkeren et al, 2008). Each MAT locus is over 450 kb in length, and MAT-1 is composed of 47 genes dispersed between large stretches of long terminal repeats (LTRs) and transposable elements (TEs) occupying ;50% of the region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome Comparison of Barley and Maize Smut Fungi Reveals Targeted Loss of RNA Silencing Components and Species-Specific Presence of Transposable Elements

et al. 2012

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Ustilago hordei is a biotrophic parasite of barley (Hordeum vulgare). After seedling infection, the fungus persists in the plant until head emergence when fungal spores develop and are released from sori formed at kernel positions. The 26.1-Mb U. hordei genome contains 7113 protein encoding genes with high synteny to the smaller genomes of the related, maizeinfecting smut fungi Ustilago maydis and Sporisorium reilianum but has a larger repeat content that affected genome evolution at important loci, including mating-type and effector loci. The U. hordei genome encodes components involved in RNA interference and heterochromatin formation, normally involved in genome defense, that are lacking in the U. maydis genome due to clean excision events. These excision events were possibly a result of former presence of repetitive DNA and of an efficient homologous recombination system in U. maydis. We found evidence of repeat-induced point mutations in the genome of U. hordei, indicating that smut fungi use different strategies to counteract the deleterious effects of repetitive DNA. The complement of U. hordei effector genes is comparable to the other two smuts but reveals differences in family expansion and clustering. The availability of the genome sequence will facilitate the identification of genes responsible for virulence and evolution of smut fungi on their respective hosts.

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Sex in smut fungi: Structure, function and evolution of mating-type complexes

Cited by 112 publications

References 51 publications

Recent and Massive Expansion of the Mating-Type-Specific Region in the Smut Fungus Microbotryum

Recent and Massive Expansion of the Mating-Type-Specific Region in the Smut Fungus Microbotryum

The Evolution of Sex: a Perspective from the Fungal Kingdom

Genome Comparison of Barley and Maize Smut Fungi Reveals Targeted Loss of RNA Silencing Components and Species-Specific Presence of Transposable Elements

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