The Mechanisms of Mating in Pathogenic Fungi—A Plastic Trait

Abstract

The impact of fungi on human and plant health is an ever-increasing issue. Recent studies have estimated that human fungal infections result in an excess of one million deaths per year and plant fungal infections resulting in the loss of crop yields worth approximately 200 million per annum. Sexual reproduction in these economically important fungi has evolved in response to the environmental stresses encountered by the pathogens as a method to target DNA damage. Meiosis is integral to this process, through increasing diversity through recombination. Mating and meiosis have been extensively studied in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, highlighting that these mechanisms have diverged even between apparently closely related species. To further examine this, this review will inspect these mechanisms in emerging important fungal pathogens, such as Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcus. It shows that both sexual and asexual reproduction in these fungi demonstrate a high degree of plasticity.

Genome analysis of three isolates of Stemphylium lycopersici differ in their virulence and sporulation ability: Identification of effectors, pathogenesis and virulence factors

“…The unusual cryptic nature of these sexual cycles led to clonal populations that might be limited in recombination events, thus having broad implications for the evolution of eukaryotic microbial pathogens. The apparent functionality of the mating type genes has been observed in species without known sexual structures, suggesting the occurrence of at least some degree of recombination (Usher, 2019). In line with sporulation ability, Zhao et al.…”

“…The unusual cryptic nature of these sexual cycles led to clonal populations that might be limited in recombination events, thus having broad implications for the evolution of eukaryotic microbial pathogens. The apparent functionality of the mating type genes has been observed in species without known sexual structures, suggesting the occurrence of at least some degree of recombination (Usher, 2019). In line with sporulation ability, Zhao et al (2019) found that monoacylglycerol lipase is involved on arachidonic acid production, a compound that is required for conidia formation and pseudothecial development in S. eturmiunum, an opportunistic plant pathogen causing blight in onion.…”

Cell–Cell Mating Interactions: Overview and Potential of Single-Cell Force Spectroscopy

“…Nevertheless, in all organisms, the process requires two characteristics: specificity of the interaction and a long enough contact time to ensure cellular fusion and/or gene transfer. Because mating systems are both complex and fastevolving [9][10][11][12][13][14], there are a wide variety of strategies to achieve these characteristics.…”

Parasexuality of Candida Species

“…The C. albicans genome retained many mating-related homologs, but some key meiosis regulators were conspicuously absent, such as IME1 (master regulator of meiosis initiation in S. cerevisiae ) and SPO13 (regulator of segregation during meiosis I in S. cerevisiae ). Subsequent studies identified the presence of several previously overlooked ‘meiosis-specific’ genes in C. albicans although the involvement of most homologs in the parasexual cycle remains unstudied [reviewed in ( Sherwood and Bennett, 2009 ; Usher, 2019 )].…”