Vegetative Incompatibility and Sex in Fungi Flashcards
What is a prerequisite to anastomosis?
Somatic fusion
Why must somatic fusion be closely regulated?
So that the physiological and genetic advantages of heterokaryosis can be realized without hazard
What are the advantages of somatic fusion?
Functional diploidy
Mitotic recombination via parasexuality (important in clonal species)
Proceed to sexual processes in basidiomycetes
What are the hazards/risks of somatic fusion?
Risk of exposure to contamination with alien genetic information
Infection agents can be transmitted
Mycoviruses
Greedy genomic elements
Senescence plasmids
What is a locus?
A specified location on a chromosome
What is non-self-recognition mediated by?
Heterokaryon incompatibility
What is heterokaryon incompatibility also called?
Vegetative compatibility
What are two specific ways that nonself-recognition is mediated?
Alternate alleles at a single locus (allelic HI)
Alternate alleles at more than one locus (non-allelic HI)
What is a V-C group?
Individuals with matching alleles belong to the same V-C group
How many loci can be involved in a V-C group?
Up to 10 loci, a mismatch at any one can lead to HI
Individuals in the same V-C group can have the same or opposite mating types, how does this affect growth after fusion?
Same mating type = growth after fusion is normal
Opposite mating type = growth is slowed
What do mismatched het genes result in?
Barrages
What is a barrage?
A line or zone of demarcation that develops at the interface where two genetically different fungi meet
What do het genes regulate?
STAND proteins
What are STAND proteins?
Signal transducing ATPases with numerous domains
What do the up or downregulation of STAND proteins lead to?
Massive expressional changes
What do fungal STAND proteins contain?
a PCD switch = a het domain that induces programmed cell death
What does the co-expression of any incompatible het genes lead to?
PCD
How is the PCD phenomenon contained?
by walling off the affected area or closing septal pores
What is the difference between VC/HI and controlled mating?
Vegetative compatibility controlled by self/non-self recognition genes: cytoplasm to mingle must be as similar as possible
Mating controlled by mating-type genes: maximal advantage when nuclei are as different as possible
What does PCD not extend to?
Sexual plasmogamy
In what situation does PCD not occur?
When a trichogyne is united with a spermatium of the opposite mating type (compatible) but incompatible V-C group
What happens when there is no V-C, but matching mating types?
Perithecia in barrage
What is mating controlled by in fungi?
One MAT locus
What is the MAT locus like in ascomycetes?
The alleles are completely different pieces of DNA; they are called idiomorphs
How are mating types in ascomycetes referred to?
mating types A and a or a and alpha
What happens if the idiomorphs at the MAT loci differ and what type of fungi use this system?
Successful mating, heterothallic fungi
When does mating fail in heterothallic fungi?
If strains are of identical mating type
What are homothallic fungi?
Fungi can reproduce sexually without another individual
What is the 2-way arrangement of MAT idiomorphs called?
A bipolar mating system