Bubnick Meggan, Smulian A George
Department of Pathology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0560, USA.
Eukaryot Cell. 2007 Apr;6(4):616-21. doi: 10.1128/EC.00020-07. Epub 2007 Feb 23.
Recombination events associated with sexual replication in pathogens may generate new strains with altered virulence. Histoplasma capsulatum is a mating-competent, pathogenic fungus with two described phenotypic mating types, + and -. The mating (MAT) locus of H. capsulatum was identified to facilitate molecular studies of mating in this organism. Through syntenic analysis of the H. capsulatum genomic sequence databases, a MAT1-1 idiomorph region was identified in H. capsulatum strains G217B and WU24, and a MAT1-2 idiomorph region was identified in the strain G186AR. A mating type-specific PCR assay was developed, and two clinical isolates of opposite genotypic mating type, UH1 and VA1, were identified. A known--mating type strain, T-3-1 (ATCC 22635), was demonstrated to be of MAT1-2 genotypic mating type. The clinical isolates UH1 and VA1 were found to be mating compatible and also displayed mating-type-dependent regulation of the MAT transcription factors in response to extracts predicted to contain mating pheromones. These studies support a role for the identified MAT1 locus in determining mating type in H. capsulatum.
病原体中与有性复制相关的重组事件可能会产生毒力改变的新菌株。荚膜组织胞浆菌是一种具有交配能力的致病真菌，有两种已描述的表型交配类型，即 + 和 -。已鉴定出荚膜组织胞浆菌的交配（MAT）位点，以促进对该生物体交配的分子研究。通过对荚膜组织胞浆菌基因组序列数据库的同源性分析，在菌株 G217B 和 WU24 中鉴定出一个 MAT1-1 特异区域，在菌株 G186AR 中鉴定出一个 MAT1-2 特异区域。开发了一种交配型特异性 PCR 检测方法，并鉴定出两个基因型交配型相反的临床分离株 UH1 和 VA1。已知的 - 交配型菌株 T-3-1（ATCC 22635）被证明是 MAT1-2 基因型交配型。发现临床分离株 UH1 和 VA1 具有交配相容性，并且在响应预计含有交配信息素的提取物时，还表现出 MAT 转录因子的交配型依赖性调控。这些研究支持已鉴定的 MAT1 位点在确定荚膜组织胞浆菌交配型中的作用。
