Systematic deletion of homeobox genes in Podospora anserina uncovers their roles in shaping the fruiting body.
Higher fungi, which comprise ascomycetes and basidiomycetes, play major roles in the biosphere. Their evolutionary success may be due to the extended dikaryotic stage of their life cycle, which is the basis for their scientific name: the Dikarya. Dikaryosis is maintained by similar structures, the clamp in basidiomycetes and the crozier in ascomycetes. Homeodomain transcription factors are required for clamp formation in all basidiomycetes studied. We identified all the homeobox genes in the filamentous ascomycete fungus Podospora anserina and constructed deletion mutants for each of these genes and for a number of gene combinations. Croziers developed normally in these mutants, including those with up to six deleted homeogenes. However, some mutants had defects in maturation of the fruiting body, an effect that could be rescued by providing wild-type maternal hyphae. Analysis of mutants deficient in multiple homeogenes revealed interactions between the genes, suggesting that they operate as a complex network. Similar to their role in animals and plants, homeodomain transcription factors in ascomycetes are involved in shaping multicellular structures.
Université Paris-Sud, Institut de Genetique et Microbiologie UMR8621, Orsay, France. evelyne.coppin@igmors.u-psud.fr
Evelyne
E
Coppin
Véronique
V
Berteaux-Lecellier
Frédérique
F
Bidard
Sylvain
S
Brun
Gwenaël
G
Ruprich-Robert
Eric
E
Espagne
Jinane
J
Aït-Benkhali
Anne
A
Goarin
Audrey
A
Nesseir
Sara
S
Planamente
Robert
R
Debuchy
Philippe
P
Silar
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005298:Fertility / Q000235:genetics; D048690:Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D048468:Podospora / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D014157:Transcription Factors