title: Cloning and characterization of a Schizophyllum gene with A beta 6 mating-type activity.
abstract: The A-pathway of development in the basidiomycete fungus Schizophyllum commune may be activated by either of two mating-type loci, A alpha and A beta. A alpha consists of two multiallelic genes, Y and Z. Y contains a putative homeodomain; Z contains a homeodomain-related region. Non-self combinations of Y and Z form heteromultimers which are thought to be transcription factors of developmental genes. To more completely understand A-regulated development it is necessary to address the issue of functional redundancy, i.e., how do two different mating loci, A alpha and A beta, both manage to regulate the same pathway. Here we report the structure of a gene with A beta 6 activity. This gene, denoted A beta V6, encodes a deduced polypeptide of 640 amino-acids with a homeodomain motif. V6 also contains a 20-amino acid sequence that is conserved in A alpha Y1, Y3 and Y4. Except for the homeodomain and the conserved sequence, the deduced V6 polypeptide shows no significant identity to A alpha Y, A alpha Z, or other known proteins. The presence of a homeodomain suggests that V, like Y and Z, may be a regulatory protein for genes in the A-pathway. Thus while A alpha and A beta encode different proteins, the general mechanism by which A alpha and A beta components signal A-regulated development may be similar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405, USA.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ullrich
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Novotny
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010675:Pheromones; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D012567:Schizophyllum / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins; C095063:MFA2 protein, S cerevisiae; D010675:Pheromones; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C099367:V6 protein, Schizophyllum commune