The A alpha mating locus of Schizophyllum commune encodes two dissimilar multiallelic homeodomain proteins.
The A alpha mating locus is one of four multiallelic loci that govern sexual development in the basidiomycete fungus Schizophyllum commune. We have determined the nucleotide sequence encoding three A alpha mating types, A alpha 1, A alpha 3, and A alpha 4. We have found that the locus for A alpha 3 and A alpha 4 consists of two genes: Y and Z. The locus for A alpha 1 encodes only one gene, Y. The Z polypeptides encoded by different alleles exhibit 42% identity. The Y polypeptides exhibit 49-54% identity. The finding that the deduced Z and Y polypeptides have homeodomain motifs suggests that these polypeptides may be DNA-binding regulatory proteins that control the expression of developmental genes. The deduced Z polypeptide also has acidic regions that might be functionally analogous to the acidic regions in yeast GAL4 and GCN4 that activate transcription. The Y polypeptide has a serine-rich region and a basic region that shows some identity to the lysine-rich region of H1 histones.
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405.
M M
MM
Stankis
C A
CA
Specht
H
H
Yang
L
L
Giasson
R C
RC
Ullrich
C P
CP
Novotny
D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012567:Schizophyllum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012984:Software; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D006657:Histones; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C075905:homeodomain protein, Schizophyllum commune