title: Selecting one of several mating types through gene segment joining and deletion in Tetrahymena thermophila.
abstract: The unicellular eukaryote Tetrahymena thermophila has seven mating types. Cells can mate only when they recognize cells of a different mating type as non-self. As a ciliate, Tetrahymena separates its germline and soma into two nuclei. During growth the somatic nucleus is responsible for all gene transcription while the germline nucleus remains silent. During mating, a new somatic nucleus is differentiated from a germline nucleus and mating type is decided by a stochastic process. We report here that the somatic mating type locus contains a pair of genes arranged head-to-head. Each gene encodes a mating type-specific segment and a transmembrane domain that is shared by all mating types. Somatic gene knockouts showed both genes are required for efficient non-self recognition and successful mating, as assessed by pair formation and progeny production. The germline mating type locus consists of a tandem array of incomplete gene pairs representing each potential mating type. During mating, a complete new gene pair is assembled at the somatic mating type locus; the incomplete genes of one gene pair are completed by joining to gene segments at each end of germline array. All other germline gene pairs are deleted in the process. These programmed DNA rearrangements make this a fascinating system of mating type determination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Marcella D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cervantes
authors.forename: Eileen P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Dongxia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Michalis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hadjithomas
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orias
mesh_terms: D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016808:Tetrahymena thermophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
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