Dissertation Research: The Evolution of the A Mating Type Genes in the Mushroom Fungi.

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0105031 Vilgalys This research focuses on the genetic basis for reproduction in mushroom-forming fungi. Genes will be isolated from several mushroom species through a method termed "positional cloning". Because of the hyper-variability of mating-type genes, these genes cannot be isolated or cloned using standard protocols. As an alternative strategy, positional cloning utilizes the conservation of genes adjacent on the chromosome to the target genes. This technique will be applied to isolating the genes controlling mating in oyster mushrooms as well other mushroom species that represent unusual breeding systems. Finally, the proposed research will determine whether the positional cloning strategy can be successfully applied to isolating mating genes from the various and diverse subgroups of mushrooms. Mushrooms are atypical because natural populations of these fungi can contain numerous sexes, called mating-types. Unlike animals and many plants that determine sexes through sex chromosomes, mushrooms achieve multiple sexes through variation at a single genetic locus. The genes controlling mating-type in mushrooms have been isolated and the function of the mating-type proteins is well known. However, mating-type in fungi has been studied only in two species. Because of the great amount of variation in reproductive mode among the mushroom fungi, it is important to expand the knowledge of how mating type genes function to represent the diversity of this ecologically important group of organisms.