Hsueh Yen-Ping, Heitman Joseph
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, United States.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2008 Dec;11(6):517-24. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2008.09.014. Epub 2008 Nov 5.
The mating-type locus (MAT) orchestrates sexual reproduction in fungi. Sexual reproduction is related not only to fitness of an organism, but also correlated with virulence in certain pathogens. In the dandruff-associated fungus Malassesia globosa, although the sexual cycle remains to be discovered, whole genome analysis has led to the hypothesis that mating may occur on host skin. Furthermore, the MAT locus of M. globosa and U. hordei provides evidence that transitions between tetrapolar and bipolar systems have independently occurred. These results, together with studies recapitulating the ancestral tetrapolar mating system in Cryptococcus and the structure of MAT in related smut fungi, have furthered understanding on transitions between different mating systems and the evolution of MAT in the Basidiomycota.
交配型位点（MAT）调控真菌的有性生殖。有性生殖不仅与生物体的适应性有关，还与某些病原体的毒力相关。在与头皮屑相关的真菌球形马拉色菌中，尽管其有性生殖周期仍有待发现，但全基因组分析提出了在宿主皮肤上可能发生交配的假说。此外，球形马拉色菌和大麦坚黑粉菌的MAT位点提供了证据，表明四极性和双极性系统之间的转变是独立发生的。这些结果，连同在隐球菌中重现祖先四极性交配系统的研究以及相关黑粉菌中MAT的结构，进一步加深了对不同交配系统之间的转变以及担子菌门中MAT进化的理解。
