title: Sexual recombination as a tool for engineering industrial Penicillium chrysogenum strains.
abstract: The recent discovery and functional characterization of opposite mating-type loci in the industrial penicillin producer Penicillium chrysogenum demonstrated their regulatory role in sexual as well as asexual development. Subsequent experiments further showed that a sexual life cycle can be induced in P. chrysogenum that was for long believed to reproduce exclusively by asexual propagation. Finally, crossing of wild type and production strains resulted in the generation of recombinant ascospore isolates. We predict from these recent findings that recombinant progeny for industrial applications can be obtained by sexual crossings and discuss experimental difficulties that occur when parental strains with karyotype heterogeneity are used for mating.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Tim A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Dahlmann
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Böhm
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Kordula
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany. ulrich.kueck@rub.de.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kück
mesh_terms: D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D059785:Karyotype; D010406:Penicillins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D010408:Penicillium chrysogenum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010675:Pheromones / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010406:Penicillins; D010675:Pheromones
keywords: ChIP-seq; Karyotype heterogeneity; Mating; Penicillin; Penicillium chrysogenum; Sexual recombination