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pah1: a homeobox gene involved in hyphal morphology and microconidiogenesis in the filamentous ascomycete Podospora anserina.

Homeobox-containing genes are widely described among eukaryotic species other than filamentous ascomycetes. We describe here the isolation and characterization of the first homeobox gene (pah1) identified in a filamentous ascomycete. It encodes a putative protein of 610 amino acids containing a typical homeodomain with 60 amino acids. Deletion of the pah1 gene enhances the number of male gametes (microconidia), whereas overexpression of pah1 results in a decrease in microconidia. These results led us to suppose that pah1 may be a repressor of genes involved in the microconidiation process. Moreover, pah1 is involved in hyphal branching and possibly in the development of female organs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Inactivation of the Podospora anserina vegetative incompatibility locus het-c, whose product resembles a glycolipid transfer protein, drastically impairs ascospore production.

The het-c locus contains different alleles that elicit nonallelic vegetative incompatibility through specific interactions with alleles of the unlinked loci het-e and het-d. The het-c2 allele has been cloned. It encodes a 208-amino acid polypeptide that is similar to a glycolipid transfer protein purified from pig brain. Disruption of this gene drastically impairs ascospore production in homozygous crosses, and some mutants exhibit abnormal branching of apical hyphae. The protein encoded by het-c2 is essential in the biology of the fungus and may be involved in cell-wall biosynthesis.

Alleles↗

MOD-D, a Galpha subunit of the fungus Podospora anserina, is involved in both regulation of development and vegetative incompatibility.

Cell death via vegetative incompatibility is widespread in fungi but molecular mechanism and biological function of the process are poorly understood. One way to investigate this phenomenon was to study genes named mod that modified incompatibility reaction. In this study, we cloned the mod-D gene that encodes a Galpha protein. The mod-D mutant strains present developmental defects. Previously, we showed that the mod-E gene encodes an HSP90. The mod-E1 mutation suppresses both vegetative incompatibility and developmental defects due to the mod-D mutation. Moreover, we isolated the PaAC gene, which encodes an adenylate cyclase, as a partial suppressor of the mod-D1 mutation. Our previous results showed that the molecular mechanisms involved in vegetative incompatibility and developmental pathways are connected, suggesting that vegetative incompatibility may result from disorders in some developmental steps. Our new result corroborates the involvement of mod genes in signal transduction pathways. As expected, we showed that an increase in the cAMP level is able to suppress the defects in vegetative growth due to the mod-D1 mutation. However, cAMP increase has no influence on the suppressor effect of the mod-D1 mutation on vegetative incompatibility, suggesting that this suppressor effect is independent of the cAMP pathway.

Alleles↗

Podospora anserina mutant defective in protoperithecium formation, ascospore germination, and cell regeneration.

A mutant (modx) was selected on the basis of the suppression of self-lysis due to a recessive mutation (modB). modx, a dominant mutation, reduced hyphal branching from nonapical cells, abolished protoperithecium formation, and induced the death of stationary cells only when these were isolated to obtain further development. Mutant ascospores, formed in the fruiting bodies which occasionally occur under specific conditions (32 degrees C on starved medium), showed a delay in the germination process (up to 3 months instead of about 5 h for wild-type ascospores) when submitted to incubation under standard conditions (26 degrees C on germination medium) and failed to germinate at 18 degrees C. Revertants from modx strains, selected on the basis of the suppression of the nonrenewal of growth from stationary cells, were wild type for all the other three defects. Indirect arguments suggested that the modx mutant strain might be defective in the control of a specific class of stable messenger ribonucleic acids which would be essential for the physiology of ascospores and stationary cells.

Alleles↗

Podospora mutant defective in glucose-dependent growth control.

A mutation (modE), previously described as a membrane mutation, results in several modifications of the female developmental cycle: a high density of protoperithecia, the unscheduled development of protoperithecia into sterile perithecia on the homokaryons of each mating type, and the independence of ascospore outgrowth from the substances normally required for germination. Cultured in liquid medium, the modE strain showed two additional specific features: a higher growth yield than that of wild-type cultures (plus 10% of dry weight) and an extreme reduction of cell life span. Both mutant traits were specific to glucose limitation. Despite the large difference existing in the sensitivity of cells to glucose starvation, the glycogen and trehalose reserves of mutant and wild-type cells were nearly identical. Considered together, these results suggest that the primary effect of the mutation lies in the disruption of a glucose-dependent regulation controlling the transition of the metabolic pattern of cells from growth to quiescence.

Ascomycota↗