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Curr Biol

Title:		Asymmetry in sexual pheromones is not required for ascomycete mating
Author(s):		Goncalves-Sa J; Murray A;
Address:		"Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA"
Journal Title:		Curr Biol
Year:		2011
Volume:		20110811
Issue:		16
Page Number:		1337 - 1346
DOI:		10.1016/j.cub.2011.06.054
ISSN/ISBN:		1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Print) 0960-9822 (Linking)
Abstract:		"BACKGROUND: We investigated the determinants of sexual identity in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The higher fungi are divided into the ascomycetes and the basidiomycetes. Most ascomycetes have two mating types: one (called alpha in yeasts and MAT1-1 in filamentous fungi) produces a small, unmodified, peptide pheromone, and the other (a in yeasts and MAT1-2 in filamentous fungi) produces a peptide pheromone conjugated to a C-terminal farnesyl group that makes it very hydrophobic. In the basidiomycetes, all pheromones are lipid-modified, and this difference is a distinguishing feature between the phyla. We asked whether the asymmetry in pheromone modification is required for successful mating in ascomycetes. RESULTS: We cloned receptor and pheromone genes from a filamentous ascomycete and a basidiomycete and expressed these in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to generate novel, alternative mating pairs. We find that two yeast cells can mate even when both cells secrete a-like or alpha-like peptides. Importantly, this is true regardless of whether the cells express the a- or alpha-mating-type loci, which control the expression of other, sex-specific genes, in addition to the pheromones and pheromone receptors. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that the asymmetric pheromone modification is not required for successful mating of ascomycete fungi and confirm that, in budding yeast, the primary determinants of mating are the specificity of the receptors and their corresponding pheromones"
Keywords:		"Ascomycota/*physiology Cell Fusion Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal *Genes, Mating Type, Fungal Pheromones/*chemistry/genetics/*metabolism Receptors, Pheromone/genetics/metabolism Saccharomyces cerevisiae/cytology/*physiology Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pr;"
Notes:		"MedlineGoncalves-Sa, Joana Murray, Andrew eng P50 GM068763/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ P50 GM068763-08/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R01 GM043987/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R37 GM043987/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2011/08/13 Curr Biol. 2011 Aug 23; 21(16):1337-46. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.06.054. Epub 2011 Aug 11"