Title | A mutant defective in sexual development produces aseptate ascogonia. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2010 |
Authors | Bloemendal S, Lord KM, Rech C, Hoff B, Engh I, Read ND, Kück U |
Journal | Eukaryot Cell |
Volume | 9 |
Issue | 12 |
Pagination | 1856-66 |
Date Published | 2010 Dec |
ISSN | 1535-9786 |
Keywords | Amino Acid Sequence, Fruiting Bodies, Fungal, Fungal Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal, Hyphae, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutation, Sequence Alignment, Sordariales |
Abstract | The transition from the vegetative to the sexual cycle in filamentous ascomycetes is initiated with the formation of ascogonia. Here, we describe a novel type of sterile mutant from Sordaria macrospora with a defect in ascogonial septum formation. This mutant, named pro22, produces only small, defective protoperithecia and carries a point mutation in a gene encoding a protein that is highly conserved throughout eukaryotes. Sequence analyses revealed three putative transmembrane domains and a C-terminal domain of unknown function. Live-cell imaging showed that PRO22 is predominantly localized in the dynamic tubular and vesicular vacuolar network of the peripheral colony region close to growing hyphal tips and in ascogonia; it is absent from the large spherical vacuoles in the vegetative hyphae of the subperipheral region of the colony. This points to a specific role of PRO22 in the tubular and vesicular vacuolar network, and the loss of intercalary septation in ascogonia suggests that PRO22 functions during the initiation of sexual development. |
DOI | 10.1128/EC.00186-10 |
Alternate Journal | Eukaryotic Cell |
PubMed ID | 20952581 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC3008273 |
Grant List | BB/E010741/1 / / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council / United Kingdom |