MYCOLab Ai Logo - gold and army green

What Role Might Non-Mating Receptors Play in Schizophyllum commune?

Summary

This research investigates how fungi recognize themselves and potential mates through specialized receptor proteins. The study focuses on the fungus Schizophyllum commune and reveals how different receptor proteins help control fungal growth patterns and mating behaviors. This has implications for understanding fundamental processes in fungal biology. Impacts on everyday life: – Helps understand how fungi grow and reproduce, which is important for both beneficial and harmful fungi – Provides insights into controlling fungal growth, relevant for agriculture and medicine – Advances our knowledge of cell communication systems, which has broader applications in biology and medicine – Could lead to better methods for cultivating beneficial fungi used in food production and biotechnology – May help develop strategies to control harmful fungal growth in buildings or crops

Background

Schizophyllum commune is a well-studied wood-decaying basidiomycete with a tetrapolar mating system involving two unlinked multigenic mating-type loci. The B mating-type locus encodes pheromones and pheromone receptors in multiple allelic specificities. In addition to the mating-type specific receptors, four pheromone receptor-like (brl) genes have been identified, but their functions remain unclear.

Objective

To investigate the organization, expression patterns and potential functions of the four pheromone receptor-like (brl) genes in S. commune through extensive sequence analysis and functional characterization of brl-overexpression mutants.

Results

The study found high synteny in gene order and neighboring genes across different S. commune strains. Three brl genes (brl1-3) were located at the B mating-type locus while brl4 was located separately. Expression analysis indicated roles in filamentous growth and mating. Brl1 showed function in mating, while Brl3, Brl4 and to a lesser extent Brl2 played roles in vegetative growth and growth direction. The brl3 and brl4 overexpression mutants displayed dikaryon-like irregular growth patterns and enhanced detection of self-signals. Protein localization studies showed presence of Brls in hyphal tips, septa and unfused clamps.

Conclusion

The study revealed distinct roles for the four Brl proteins: Brl1 is involved in mating and localizes in pseudoclamps, Brl2 functions in hyphal growth, while Brl3 and Brl4 control dikaryotic asymmetrical growth and self-recognition. These findings suggest the Brl proteins have evolved diverse functions beyond direct pheromone recognition in S. commune’s complex mating system.
  • Published in:Journal of Fungi,
  • Study Type:Laboratory Research,
  • Source: 10.3390/jof7050399
Scroll to Top