1887

Abstract

The putative mating type locus of mucoralean fungi consists of a single high mobility group (HMG)-domain transcription factor gene, or , flanked by genes for an RNA helicase and a triosephosphate transporter. We used degenerate primers derived from the amino acid sequence of the RNA helicase to sequence a fragment of this gene from . This fragment was extended by inverse PCR to obtain the complete sequences of the loci from both mating types of . The loci in reflect the general picture obtained previously for , presenting a single HMG-domain transcription factor gene, and in the minus and plus mating types, respectively. These are located next to a gene for RNA helicase. Transcriptional analysis by quantitative real-time PCR showed that only transcription of is considerably stimulated by adding trisporoid pheromones, thus mimicking sexual stimulation, whereas is only slightly affected. These differences in regulation between and are supported by the observation that the promoter sequences controlling these genes show no similarities. The protein structures themselves are considerably different. The SexM, but not the SexP protein harbours a nuclear localization sequence. The SexM protein is indeed transported to nuclei. This was shown by means of a GFP fusion construct that was used to study the localization of SexM in the yeast . The fusion protein is highly enriched in nuclei.

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2012-04-01
2024-03-28
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