Needles in fungal haystacks: Discovery of a putative a-factor pheromone and a unique mating strategy in the Leotiomycetes

The Leotiomycetes is a hugely diverse group of fungi, accommodating a wide variety of important plant and animal pathogens, ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, as well as producers of antibiotics. Despite their importance, the genetics of these fungi remain relatively understudied, particularly as they don&#...

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Published in:	PloS one 2023-10, Vol.18 (10), p.e0292619-e0292619
Main Authors:	Wilson, Andi M, Coetzee, Martin P. A, Wingfield, Michael J, Wingfield, Brenda D
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	A-factor Animal behavior Animal experimentation Antibiotics Ascomycota Biology and Life Sciences Computer and Information Sciences Evaluation Fungi Genes Genetic aspects Genetic engineering Genetics Genomes Genomics Heterothallism Homothallism Identification and classification Leotiomycetes Mating Mating behavior Pathogens Pheromones Proteins Sexual reproduction Species Transcriptomics Yeast
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Summary:	The Leotiomycetes is a hugely diverse group of fungi, accommodating a wide variety of important plant and animal pathogens, ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, as well as producers of antibiotics. Despite their importance, the genetics of these fungi remain relatively understudied, particularly as they don't include model taxa. For example, sexual reproduction and the genetic mechanisms that underly this process are poorly understood in the Leotiomycetes. We exploited publicly available genomic and transcriptomic resources to identify genes of the mating-type locus and pheromone response pathway in an effort to characterize the mating strategies and behaviors of 124 Leotiomycete species. Our analyses identified a putative a-factor mating pheromone in these species. This significant finding represents the first identification of this gene in Pezizomycotina species outside of the Sordariomycetes. A unique mating strategy was also discovered in Lachnellula species that appear to have lost the need for the primary MAT1-1-1 protein. Ancestral state reconstruction enabled the identification of numerous transitions between homothallism and heterothallism in the Leotiomycetes and suggests a heterothallic ancestor for this group. This comprehensive catalog of mating-related genes from such a large group of fungi provides a rich resource from which in-depth, functional studies can be conducted in these economically and ecologically important species.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203