title: Fungal mating pheromones: choreographing the dating game.
abstract: Pheromones are ubiquitous from bacteria to mammals - a testament to their importance in regulating inter-cellular communication. In fungal species, they play a critical role in choreographing interactions between mating partners during the program of sexual reproduction. Here, we describe how fungal pheromones are synthesized, their interactions with G protein-coupled receptors, and the signals propagated by this interaction, using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a reference point. Divergence from this model system is compared amongst the ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, which reveals the wealth of information that has been gleaned from studying pheromone-driven processes across a wide spectrum of the fungal kingdom.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones