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PLoS One

Title:		"Mating type gene homologues and putative sex pheromone-sensing pathway in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a presumably asexual plant root symbiont"
Author(s):		Halary S; Daubois L; Terrat Y; Ellenberger S; Wostemeyer J; Hijri M;
Address:		"Departement de Sciences Biologiques, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Vegetale (IRBV), Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2013
Volume:		20131119
Issue:		11
Page Number:		e80729 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0080729
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"The fungal kingdom displays a fascinating diversity of sex-determination systems. Recent advances in genomics provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of sex, mating type determination, and evolution of sexual reproduction in many fungal species in both ancient and modern phylogenetic lineages. All major fungal groups have evolved sexual differentiation and recombination pathways. However, sexuality is unknown in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) of the phylum Glomeromycota, an ecologically vital group of obligate plant root symbionts. AMF are commonly considered an ancient asexual lineage dating back to the Ordovician, approximately 460 M years ago. In this study, we used genomic and transcriptomic surveys of several AMF species to demonstrate the presence of conserved putative sex pheromone-sensing mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases, comparable to those described in Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. We also find genes for high mobility group (HMG) transcription factors, homologous to SexM and SexP genes in the Mucorales. The SexM genes show a remarkable sequence diversity among multiple copies in the genome, while only a single SexP sequence was detected in some isolates of Rhizophagus irregularis. In the Mucorales and Microsporidia, the sexM gene is flanked by genes for a triosephosphate transporter (TPT) and a RNA helicase, but we find no evidence for synteny in the vicinity of the Sex locus in AMF. Nonetheless, our results, together with previous observations on meiotic machinery, suggest that AMF could undergo a complete sexual reproduction cycle"
Keywords:		"Fungal Proteins/chemistry/genetics/metabolism Gene Dosage Gene Order *Genes, Mating Type, Fungal Models, Biological Models, Molecular Mycorrhizae/*genetics/*metabolism Phylogeny Protein Conformation Quantitative Trait Loci Root Nodules, Plant/microbiology;"
Notes:		"MedlineHalary, Sebastien Daubois, Laurence Terrat, Yves Ellenberger, Sabrina Wostemeyer, Johannes Hijri, Mohamed eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2013/11/22 PLoS One. 2013 Nov 19; 8(11):e80729. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080729. eCollection 2013"