Development of a PCR-based mating-type assay for Clavicipitaceae.

This study developed a PCR-based mating-type assay for Clavicipitaceae. PCR primer sets for the mating-type genes MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1 were designed based on the amino acid sequences of the conserved alpha and HMG boxes, respectively. The PCR-based mating-type assay could be applied for various clavicipitaceous genera (Balansia, Claviceps, Cordyceps and Epichloë). Most of the clavicipitaceous fungi possessed either MAT1-1-1 or MAT1-2-1, and were supposed to be heterothallic. Although the PCR products obtained by the mating-type assay were short, the phylogenetic trees of the mating-type genes gave better resolutions than that of 18S rDNA and agreed well to their econutritional modes.