06/2009 - Prof. Dr. Erika Kothe
Phermone response in the model basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune

Abstract
 

The mating between two compatible strains of basidiomycetes - which is necessary for the reproduction - is governed by two mating type loci. Intracellular signal transduction after recognition of mating pheromones has been postulated to be based on MAPK cascade, cAMP and Ras/Rho signaling. The currently annotated genome sequence of Schizophyllum allows to address the potential signal pathways both from a transcriptome/proteome as well as in a targeted approach. The results of these analyses will then be verified by transformation/gene knock-out studies. This research will thus, for the first time, be a comprehensive analysis of mating and pheromone response in a homobasidiomycete and might yield informations for mushroom breeding and production.
The first inspection of the genome revealed two highlights in mating type loci and subsequent signal transduction: multiple pheromone receptor genes and involvement of both MAPK and Ras signalling. The pheromone perception and the distinction between self and non-self is governed by receptors or the GPCR type which are able to discriminate between up to 8 self and most likely more than 20 non-self pheromones. The analysis of the 6 single pheromone receptors will allow an understanding of the evolution of the more than 20,000 mating types found in nature. And the signalling cascades will be analysed on a functional level for combining the signals of pheromone recognition to the phenotypes of cell biology and fruitbody development.

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