Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Japan Women’s University, Tokyo, Japan.
Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 2012;297:309-38. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394308-8.00014-5.
The genus Closterium, which is the closest unicellular relative to land plants, is the best-characterized charophycean green alga with respect to the process of sexual reproduction. In two representative heterothallic species, the steps and methods of intercellular communication were fully described. Glycoproteinaceous sex pheromones involved in the progress of these processes were physiologically and biochemically characterized and the corresponding genes were cloned. These pheromones function in most steps of sexual reproduction. For elucidating the mechanisms of sexual reproduction in detail, molecular tools such as expressed sequence tag, microarray analysis, and genetic transformation systems have been established, and whole genome analyses are ongoing. Finally, sexual reproductive isolation among mating groups was characterized, and the mechanism involved in this isolation was considered with respect to sex pheromones. In homothallic Closterium, the presence of a pheromone orthologous to the heterothallic type and possible sexual differentiation were also described, through the combination of closely related heterothallic cells.
该属 Closterium 是与陆地植物关系最密切的单细胞生物，是研究有性生殖过程的最佳绿藻。在两个有代表性的异配性物种中，全面描述了细胞间通讯的步骤和方法。参与这些过程的糖蛋白性性信息素在生理和生物化学方面得到了表征，并克隆了相应的基因。这些信息素在有性生殖的大多数步骤中发挥作用。为了详细阐明有性生殖的机制，建立了表达序列标签、微阵列分析和遗传转化系统等分子工具，并且正在进行全基因组分析。最后，对交配群之间的有性生殖隔离进行了表征，并考虑了性信息素在这种隔离中的作用。在同配性的 Closterium 中，通过密切相关的异配性细胞的结合，也描述了存在与异配性类型同源的信息素和可能的性分化。
