Prof. Dr. Erika Kothe
Hyphal attraction in basidiomycetes for the understanding of mating interactions

Abstract:
The mating between two compatible strains of basidiomycetes - which is necessary for the reproduction - is governed by two mating type loci, one of which encodes a pheromone/receptor system. While the recognition of pheromones is basically understood, the localization of the receptor is still unsolved. Involvement of the pheromone recognition is seen in the last step of clamp development, the fusion of the clamp cells where a "mate attraction" function has been hypothesized. This might be shown by localizing the receptor molecule to the tip of the growing clamp cell and the intended point of clamp cell fusion. However, the process is transient and low expression of the receptor has hindered the analyses so far. We have now a mutant in RasGAP which shows a phenotype with extended growth of the clamp tip before fusion with a newly developing branch is seen which again shows homing in of the two hyphae. This now allows us to study hyphal attraction in better detail.

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