The Schizosaccharomyces pombe mfm1 gene is expressed in an M cell-specific fashion. This regulation requires two HMG-box proteins: the ubiquitous Ste11 transcription factor and the M cell-controlling protein Mat1-Mc. Here we report that the mfm1 promoter contains a single, weak Stell-binding site (a so-called TR-box) that can confer M-specificity on a heterologous promoter when present in eight...

The developmental program of cell-type switching of S. pombe requires a strand-specific imprinting event at the mating-type locus (mat1). Imprinting occurs only when mat1 is replicated in a specific direction and requires several trans-acting factors. This work shows (1) that the factors swi1p and swi3p act by pausing the replication fork at the imprinting site; and (2) that swi1p and swi3p are...

A rapid and reliable mating type assay for Fusarium circinatum was created by applying primers specific for the MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 mating type alleles to genomic DNA in a single PCR. A similar approach may be applied to fungi not previously shown to reproduce sexually, thus enabling studies of population structure and inheritance.

Verticillium dahliae is a cosmopolitan, soilborne fungus that causes a significant wilt disease on a wide variety of plant hosts including economically important crops, ornamentals, and timber species. Clonal expansion through asexual reproduction plays a vital role in recurring plant epidemics caused by this pathogen. The recent discovery of recombination between clonal lineages and preliminar...

Genetic and molecular studies have indicated that an epigenetic imprint at mat1, the sexual locus of fission yeast, initiates mating type switching. The polar DNA replication of mat1 generates an imprint on the Watson strand. The process by which the imprint is formed and maintained through the cell cycle remains unclear. To understand better the mechanism of imprint formation and stability, we...

Fungi have evolved a remarkable diversity of reproductive strategies. Some of these, most notably those of the model fungi, have been well studied but others are poorly understood. The latter is also true for uni-directional mating type switching, which has been reported in only five fungal genera, including Ceratocystis. Mating type switching allows a self-fertile fungal isolate to produce bot...

Aspergillus lentulus was described in 2005 as a new species within the A. fumigatus sensu lato complex. It is an opportunistic human pathogen causing invasive aspergillosis with high mortality rates, and it has been isolated from clinical and environmental sources. The species is morphologically nearly identical to A. fumigatus sensu stricto, and this similarity has resulted in their frequent m...

Mating types of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe interchange nonrandomly in a cell lineage so that only one cell among four granddaughters of a cell ever switches, and the sister of the newly switched cell switches efficiently in consecutive cell divisions, thereby producing chains of recurrent switching. The programme of cellular differentiation is mediated by inheritance of parenta...

Mating-type genes in fungi encode regulators of mating and sexual development. Heterothallic ascomycete species require different sets of mating-type genes to control nonself-recognition and mating of compatible partners of different mating types. Homothallic (self-fertile) species also carry mating-type genes in their genome that are essential for sexual development. To analyze the molecular b...

Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus that causes opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients, with high morbidity and mortality. In its turn, A. fumigatus can become infected with mycoviruses. Most mycoviruses have a dsRNA genome and can cause fungal hypovirulence. For that reason, mycoviruses could theoretically be used as therapeutic tools to combat fungal infections. We determined if...