The <i>so</i> Locus Is Required for Vegetative Cell Fusion and Postfertilization Events in <i>Neurospora crassa</i>
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- André Fleißner
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
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- Sovan Sarkar
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
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- David J. Jacobson
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
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- M. Gabriela Roca
- Fungal Cell Biology Group, Institute of Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Rutherford Building, Edinburgh EH9 3JH, United Kingdom
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- Nick D. Read
- Fungal Cell Biology Group, Institute of Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Rutherford Building, Edinburgh EH9 3JH, United Kingdom
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- N. Louise Glass
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720
抄録
<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> The process of cell fusion is a basic developmental feature found in most eukaryotic organisms. In filamentous fungi, cell fusion events play an important role during both vegetative growth and sexual reproduction. We employ the model organism <jats:italic>Neurospora crassa</jats:italic> to dissect the mechanisms of cell fusion and cell-cell communication involved in fusion processes. In this study, we characterized a mutant with a mutation in the gene <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> , which exhibits defects in cell fusion. The <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> mutant has a pleiotropic phenotype, including shortened aerial hyphae, an altered conidiation pattern, and female sterility. Using light microscopy and heterokaryon tests, the <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> mutant was shown to possess defects in germling and hyphal fusion. Although <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> produces conidial anastomosis tubes, <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> germlings did not home toward wild-type germlings nor were wild-type germlings attracted to <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> germlings. We employed a trichogyne attraction and fusion assay to determine whether the female sterility of the <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> mutant is caused by impaired communication or fusion failure between mating partners. <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> showed no defects in attraction or fusion between mating partners, indicating that <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> is specific for vegetative hyphal fusion and/or associated communication events. The <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> gene encodes a protein of unknown function, but which contains a WW domain; WW domains are predicted to be involved in protein-protein interactions. Database searches showed that <jats:italic>so</jats:italic> was conserved in the genomes of filamentous ascomycete fungi but was absent in ascomycete yeast and basidiomycete species. </jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Eukaryotic Cell
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Eukaryotic Cell 4 (5), 920-930, 2005-05
American Society for Microbiology
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詳細情報 詳細情報について
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- CRID
- 1361137043506803712
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- NII論文ID
- 30002294049
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- ISSN
- 15359786
- 15359778
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