Genome-Wide Gene Expression Profiling of Fertilization Competent Mycelium in Opposite Mating Types in the Heterothallic Fungus Podospora anserina.

Frédérique Bidard (1) , Jinane Aït Benkhali (1) , Evelyne Coppin (1) , Sandrine Imbeaud , Pierre Grognet , Hervé Delacroix , Robert Debuchy (1)

1 IGM - Institut de génétique et microbiologie [Orsay]

BACKGROUND: Mating-type loci in yeasts and ascomycotan filamentous fungi (Pezizomycotina) encode master transcriptional factors that play a critical role in sexual development. Genome-wide analyses of mating-type-specification circuits and mating-type target genes are available in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe; however, no such analyses have been performed in heterothallic (self-incompatible) Pezizomycotina. The heterothallic fungus Podospora anserina serves as a model for understanding the basic features of mating-type control. Its mat+ and mat- mating types are determined by dissimilar allelic sequences. The mat- sequence contains three genes, designated FMR1, SMR1 and SMR2, while the mat+ sequence contains one gene, FPR1. FMR1 and FPR1 are the major regulators of fertilization, and this study presents a genome-wide view of their target genes and analyzes their target gene regulation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The transcriptomic profiles of the mat+ and mat- strains revealed 157 differentially transcribed genes, and transcriptomic analysis of fmr1(-) and fpr1(-) mutant strains was used to determine the regulatory actions exerted by FMR1 and FPR1 on these differentially transcribed genes. All possible combinations of transcription repression and/or activation by FMR1 and/or FPR1 were observed. Furthermore, 10 additional mating-type target genes were identified that were up- or down-regulated to the same level in mat+ and mat- strains. Of the 167 genes identified, 32 genes were selected for deletion, which resulted in the identification of two genes essential for the sexual cycle. Interspecies comparisons of mating-type target genes revealed significant numbers of orthologous pairs, although transcriptional profiles were not conserved between species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study represents the first comprehensive genome-wide analysis of mating-type direct and indirect target genes in a heterothallic filamentous fungus. Mating-type transcription factors have many more target genes than are found in yeasts and exert a much greater diversity of regulatory actions on target genes, most of which are not directly related to mating.

Domaines: Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire; Microbiologie et Parasitologie

Frédérique Bidard, Jinane Aït Benkhali, Evelyne Coppin, Sandrine Imbeaud, Pierre Grognet, et al.. Genome-Wide Gene Expression Profiling of Fertilization Competent Mycelium in Opposite Mating Types in the Heterothallic Fungus Podospora anserina.. PLoS ONE, 2011, 6 (6), pp.e21476. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0021476⟩. ⟨hal-00607784⟩