Agglutinative mating types ofSaccharomyces transvaalensis

Agglutinative mating types ofSaccharomyces transvaalensis have been recovered from the type strain of this species. These mating types react with the corresponding opposite mating types obtained from two other strains of this species but do not react with one-spore cultures of the physiologically similar species,Saccharomyces dairensis. The dissimilarity of these two species is further confirmed by differences in the structure of their ascospores as observed in ultrathin sections by electron microscopy.     

Characterization of Benzoyl-l-arginine p-Nitroanilide Hydrolase in Rice Embryo

A strain of yeast was isolated from the exudate of a tree at Ishigaki Island near Taiwan. It was found to produce 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaric acid extracellularly as the primary metabolic product of glucose and ethanol metabolism under aerobic conditions. The yeast was identified as Candida sorbosa Hedrick et Burke ex van Uden et Buckley. The acid was produced at a concentration of approximately 10 mg per ml of culture filtrate.     

Pichia norvegensis sp. nov.

A new yeast species Pichia norvegensis Leask et Yarrow is described as the perfect state of Candida norvegensis (Dietrichson) van Uden et Farinha ex van Uden et Buckley. Strains of this species were isolated on 3 occasions from human vaginas. This species differs from other Pichia species that assimilate glucose but not galactose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, D-mannitol and D-glucitol by assimilating cellobiose.     

The genus Candida Berkhout

The properties of 53 fermentation type II strains of the genusCandida Berkhout were studied. The strains in question were originally identified asCandida tropicalis (Castellani) Berkhout,Candida pelliculosa Redaelli,Candida robusta Diddens et Lodder,Candida intermedia (Cif. et Ashf.) Langeron et Guerra,Candida langeroni Dietrichson,Candida obtusa (Dietrichson) v. Uden et Carmo Sousa and as various intermediate forms between these and other similar species. The classification criteria were extended by a number of very important characteristics, such as the degree of utilization of raffinose, the assimilation of lysine, xylose, cellobiose, maltotriose, maltotetraose and arabinose, virulence for mice, nutrient requirements, serological properties, etc. Actual classification was based on the numerical method of a similarity count. On the basis of this extension of the classification criteria, the characteristics of the speciesCandida tropicalis (Castellani) Berkhout andCandida pelliculosa Redaelli were defined in greater detail.Candida intermedia, evaluated on the basis of previously employed characteristics (lactose utilization, non-assimilation of KNO₃) does not appear to be a separate species, but a collection of different border-line forms of other species of this group.Candida robusta Diddens et Lodder is regarded as a member of the genusSaccharomyces, notCandida. The varietiesCandida tropicalis var.lambica andCandida pelliculosa var.cylindrica likewise do not seem to belong to the species concerned and will have to be studied in greater detail from the genetic aspect, in relation to other membrane-forming types ofCandida. The authors' extension of the classification criteria considerably reduced intraspecific variability, particularly in the speciesCandida tropicalis (Castellani) Berkhout, and led to greater accuracy in the practical diagnosis of this species, which is frequent in clinical material.     

Mating type and mating strategies in Neurospora

In the heterothallic species Neurospora crassa, strains of opposite mating type, A and a, must interact to give the series of events resulting in fruiting body formation, meiosis, and the generation of dormant ascospores. The mating type of a strain is specified by the DNA sequence it carries in the mating type region; strains that are otherwise isogenic can mate and produce ascospores. The DNA of the A and a regions have completely dissimilar sequences. Probing DNA from strains of each mating type with labelled sequences from the A and the a regions has shown that, unlike in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, only a single copy of a mating type sequence is present in a haploid genome. The failure to switch is explainable by the physical absence of DNA sequences characteristic of the opposite mating type. While the mating type sequences must be of the opposite kind for mating to occur in the sexual cycle, two strains of opposite mating type cannot form a stable heterokaryon during vegetative growth; instead, they fuse abortively to give a heterokaryon incompatibility reaction, which results in death of the cells along the fusion line. The DNA sequences responsible for this reaction are coextensive with those sequences in the A and a regions which are necessary to initiate fruiting body formation. The genus Neurospora also includes homothallic species--ones in which a single haploid nucleus carries all the information necessary to form fruiting bodies, undergo meiosis, and produce new haploid spores. One such species, N. terricola, contains one copy each of the A and the a sequences within each haploid genome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Four new species and a new Chinese record of the nectrioid fungi

Four new species belonging to Bionectria, Calonectria, Haematonectria and Neonectria on plant substrates collected from nature reserves in southern and central China are described. Bionectria truncata has smooth perithecia of a flattened to shallow discoid apex, clavate asci with an apical ring, and ellipsoid, smooth to spinulose ascospores. Calonectria dicephalospora is characterized by pyriform perithecia with a warted surface, clavate asci with a simple apex and long, narrow stalk, and fusoid ascospores with a cap-like appendage at each end. Haematonectria lushanensis possesses warted perithecia which are laterally collapsing when dry, cylindrical asci with a simple apex, and ellipsoid, spinulose ascospores. Neonectria dinghushanica is distinguishable by subglobose perithecia with a warted surface, clavate asci, and striate ascospores. Morphological features of these new species are described comprehensively and compared with their related fungi. Neonectria castaneicola is recorded as new to China.     

Physiological and DNA characterization of Candida maltosa,a hydrocarbon-utilizing yeast

Selected yeasts classified as Candida sake van Uden et Buckley were examined for their physiological, morphological and immunological properties and their DNA relatedness. Candida maltosa Komagata, Nakase et Katsuya is herein recognized as a species separate from C. sake. Candida maltosa was distinguished from C. sake and from C. tropicalis by insignificant DNA reassociation. In addition, C. maltosa was distinguished from C. sake by its higher maximal growth temperature and lower guanine plus cytosine content of its DNA and from C. tropicalis by its failure to utilize soluble starch for growth and its resistance to cycloheximide. The species C. cloacae and C. subtropicalis are placed in synonymy with C. maltosa.     

Pichia triangularis sp. nov., the teleomorph of Candida polymorpha Ohara et Nonomura,nom. nud.

The type strain of Candida polymorpha Ohara et Nonomura, nom. nud. was found to produce hat-shaped ascospores. On the basis of its morphology and physiology, it is considered a new species of the genus Pichia and is described as Pichia triangularis sp. nov.     

Identification of Races and Mating Types of Cochliobolus carbonum from Corn in the Yunnan Province in China

Northern corn leaf spot, a foliar disease caused by Cochliobolus carbonum, has become prevalent in southwestern China, especially in the Yunnan Province. Races and mating types were identified for 169 isolates collected from 13 prefectures of Yunnan by artificial inoculation using six hybrid corns as differential hosts and by crossing with three standard mating strains: CC092 (MAT1‐2), CC120 (MAT1‐1) and CC026 (MAT1‐1). Results showed the existence of three races: CCR1 (one isolate), CCR2 (43 isolates) and CCR3 (125 isolates). Most isolates were moderately or weakly virulent with only five being highly virulent. CCR3 was widely distributed and significantly more virulent than CCR2 that coexisted with CCR3 in many locations. On Sach's nutrient agar, 20.71% of the Yunnan isolates self‐mated, forming sterile perithecia. Fully developed perithecia could be formed between isolates of different geographic origins, but only 15.98% strains mated successfully with CC092 and 5.33% formed mature perithecia with 4–6 ascospores per asus. Similar results were obtained in crossing with CC026 or CC120. Mating could also occur between CCR3 and CCR2. Both mating types were found in Yunnan with 84 MAT1‐1 strains (one CCR1, 10 CCR2 and 73 CCR3) and 85 MAT1‐2 strains (33 CCR2 and 52 CCR3) and they coexisted in most areas. To identify the mating type rapidly, three specific primers were successfully developed and employed to amplify the mating‐type genes, with stable patterns of 1627 and 876 bp fragments obtained from MAT1‐1 and MAT1‐2 isolates, respectively. The ratio between MAT1‐1 and MAT1‐2 was 1 : 1, indicating that the mating‐type genes segregated randomly in the field naturally.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Metschnikowia viticola</Emphasis> sp. nov., a new yeast species from grape

Two yeast strains, producing needle-shaped ascospores under suitable conditions, were isolated from grapes grown in Hungary. Based on these two strains, Metschnikowia viticola (type strain NCAIM Y.01705, CBS 9950, JCM 12561) is proposed as a new yeast species. Considering its phenotypic features, the restriction fragment patterns of 18S rDNA and the sequence of the D1/D2 domain of 26S rDNA, the proposed new species is closely related to Candida kofuensis.     

Recessive and dominant genes controlling inducible sexual agglutinability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Summary We have characterized the two dominant genes, IND 1 and IND 2, responsible for inducible sexual agglutinability. The strains carrying these genes differ from the inducible strains carrying the recessive gene, saa 1 in the following points. The former strains produce agglutination substance at 22°, 28°, and 37° C only in response to sex pheromone of the opposite mating type, but the latter strains produce the substance constitutively without the pheromone at 22° C, only in response to the pheromone at 28° C, and do not produce the substance, even in the presence of the pheromone, at 37° C.We suggest that strains carrying one of the dominant, inducible genes are wild type and have a pheromone-controlled regulatory system of sexual agglutinability.     

Sexual Reproduction in Aspergillus flavus Sclerotia: Acquisition of Novel Alleles from Soil Populations and Uniparental Mitochondrial Inheritance

Aspergillus flavus colonizes agricultural commodities worldwide and contaminates them with carcinogenic aflatoxins. The high genetic diversity of A. flavus populations is largely due to sexual reproduction characterized by the formation of ascospore-bearing ascocarps embedded within sclerotia. A. flavus is heterothallic and laboratory crosses between strains of the opposite mating type produce progeny showing genetic recombination. Sclerotia formed in crops are dispersed onto the soil surface at harvest and are predominantly produced by single strains of one mating type. Less commonly, sclerotia may be fertilized during co-infection of crops with sexually compatible strains. In this study, laboratory and field experiments were performed to examine sexual reproduction in single-strain and fertilized sclerotia following exposure of sclerotia to natural fungal populations in soil. Female and male roles and mitochondrial inheritance in A. flavus were also examined through reciprocal crosses between sclerotia and conidia. Single-strain sclerotia produced ascospores on soil and progeny showed biparental inheritance that included novel alleles originating from fertilization by native soil strains. Sclerotia fertilized in the laboratory and applied to soil before ascocarp formation also produced ascospores with evidence of recombination in progeny, but only known parental alleles were detected. In reciprocal crosses, sclerotia and conidia from both strains functioned as female and male, respectively, indicating A. flavus is hermaphroditic, although the degree of fertility depended upon the parental sources of sclerotia and conidia. All progeny showed maternal inheritance of mitochondria from the sclerotia. Compared to A. flavus populations in crops, soil populations would provide a higher likelihood of exposure of sclerotia to sexually compatible strains and a more diverse source of genetic material for outcrossing.     

Isolation of Pheromone Precursor Genes of Magnaporthe grisea

In heterothallic ascomycetes one mating partner serves as the source of female tissue and is fertilized with spermatia from a partner of the opposite mating type. The role of pheromone signaling in mating is thought to involve recognition of cells of the opposite mating type. We have isolated two putative pheromone precursor genes of Magnaporthe grisea. The genes are present in both mating types of the fungus but they are expressed in a mating type-specific manner. The MF1-1 gene, expressed in Mat1-1 strains, is predicted to encode a 26-amino-acid polypeptide that is processed to produce a lipopeptide pheromone. The MF2-1 gene, expressed in Mat1-2 strains, is predicted to encode a precursor polypeptide that is processed by a Kex2-like protease to yield a pheromone with striking similarity to the predicted pheromone sequence of a close relative, Cryphonectria parasitica. Expression of the M. grisea putative pheromone precursor genes was observed under defined nutritional conditions and in field isolates. This suggests that the requirement for complex media for mating and the poor fertility of field isolates may not be due to limitation of pheromone precursor gene expression. Detection of putative pheromone precursor gene mRNA in conidia suggests that pheromones may be important for the fertility of conidia acting as spermatia.     

Occurrence of O-methylated sugars in surface glycoconjugates in Chlamydomonas eugametos

Previously, we have shown that the monomeric-sugar composition of cell-surface-associated glycoconjugates of two strains of Chlamydomonas eugametos, of different mating type, differs strikingly (Gerwig et al. 1984, Carbohydr. Res. 127, 245–251). Besides the common occurrence of various pentoses and hexoses, the glycoconjugates of one strain contain 4-O-methyl xylose, a 2-O-methyl pentose (probably 2-O-methyl arabinose) and 3-O-methyl galactose, whereas those of the other strain contain 6-O-methyl mannose and 3-O-methyl glucose. In order to investigate whether these differences are relevant to the mating process of this organism, the sugar composition of the sexual progeny of these strains was analyzed. The ability to produce 4-O-methyl xylose, 2-O-methyl pentose and 3-O-methyl galactose on the one hand, and the ability to produce 6-O-methyl mannose and 3-O-methyl glucose on the other hand, appear to be genetically linked. However, the ability to produce either set of O-methyl sugars was inherited independently of mating type. O-Methylated sugars do not occur in the cell wall of C. eugametos, or in the cell-free medium, but only in surface-membrane-associated glycoconjugates, extractable with salt or detergent solutions.Abbreviation mt ^+/- mating-type plus or minus     

Physiological and DNA characterization of Candida maltosa, a hydrocarbon-utilizing yeast.

Selected yeast classified as Candida sake van Uden et Buckley were examined for their physiological, morphological and immunological properties and their DNA relatedness. Candida maltosa Komagata, Nakase et Katsuya is herein recognized as a species separate from C. sake, Candida maltosa was distinguished from C. sake and from C. tropicalis by insignificant DNA reassociation. In addition, C. maltosa was distinguished from C. sake by its higher maximal growth temperature and lower guanine plus cytosine content of its DNA and from C. tropicalis by its failure to utilize soluble starch for growth and its resistance to cycloheximide. The species C. cloacae and C. subtropicalis are placed in synonymy with C. maltosa.     

Roles for receptors, pheromones, G proteins, and mating type genes during sexual reproduction in Neurospora crassa

Here we characterize the relationship between the PRE-2 pheromone receptor and its ligand, CCG-4, and the general requirements for receptors, pheromones, G proteins, and mating type genes during fusion of opposite mating-type cells and sexual sporulation in the multicellular fungus Neurospora crassa. PRE-2 is highly expressed in mat a cells and is localized in male and female reproductive structures. Δpre-2 mat a females do not respond chemotropically to mat A males (conidia) or form mature fruiting bodies (perithecia) or meiotic progeny (ascospores). Strains with swapped identity due to heterologous expression of pre-2 or ccg-4 behave normally in crosses with opposite mating-type strains. Coexpression of pre-2 and ccg-4 in the mat A background leads to self-attraction and development of barren perithecia without ascospores. Further perithecial development is achieved by inactivation of Sad-1, a gene required for meiotic gene silencing. Findings from studies involving forced heterokaryons of opposite mating-type strains show that presence of one receptor and its compatible pheromone is necessary and sufficient for perithecial development and ascospore production. Taken together, the results demonstrate that although receptors and pheromones control sexual identity, the mating-type genes (mat A and mat a) must be in two different nuclei to allow meiosis and sexual sporulation to occur.     

Neurospora discreta,a new heterothallic species defined by its crossing behavior

The species is described and namedNeurospora discreta sp. nov. because of its stringent reproductive isolation. Isolates collected from burned vegetation at a single site near Kirbyville, Texas, include both mating types (Aanda). Experimental criteria based on cross-fertility were used for assigning species status. Crosses between isolates of opposite mating type are highly fertile, producing abundant eightspored asci. In contrast, when the Kirbyville strains are crossed to sexually compatible speciestester strains representingN. crassa, N. intermedia, N. sitophila, andN. tetrasperma, perithecia are rudimentary and no ascospores are produced. The haploid chromosome number is 7. Chromosomes at pachytene resemble those of otherNeurospora species. Biotin is required. Linear growth is slower than for other heterothallic species. When A and a strains from Kirbyville grow toward one another and intersect on crossing medium, there is no barrage. A single homogeneous band of perithecia is formed where they meet, indicating that opposite mating types are vegetatively compatible. The Kirbyville population differs from other heterothallicNeurospora species in ascospore morphology and vegetative traits. Ascospores from Kirbyville parents are larger, and the ribs between confluent parallel grooves are ornamented with dot-like pits. Vegetative cultures from Kirbyville are yellowish rather than orange, and large empty barren protoperithecia or false perithecia are produced abundantly in unfertilized haploid cultures. Isolates from two otherN. discreta populations resemble otherNeurospora species more closely with respect to these morphological traits but are clearly conspecific with the Kirbyville strains on the basis of fertility in crosses.     

Three new <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ophiostoma</Emphasis> species with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pesotum</Emphasis> anamorphs associated with bark beetles infesting <Emphasis Type="Italic">Abies</Emphasis> species in Nikko,Japan

Three species of Ophiostoma possessing Pesotum anamorphs isolated from bark beetles and their galleries infesting Abies species in Nikko, Japan, are described as new species. Ophiostoma nikkoense is characterized by brush-shaped synnemata producing long septate clavate conidia, perithecia with neck, and allantoid ascospores. Ophiostoma microcarpum has smaller perithecia with hyphoid ostiolar hyphae on the neck, and the ascospores are cylindrical or ossiform in side and face views. Ophiostoma abieticola has perithecia without ostiolar hyphae on the neck and produces orange-section-shaped or reniform ascospores.Contribution no. 187, Laboratory of Plant Parasitic Mycology, Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Tsukuba     

A possible function of the chilamydospores of Candida albicans

Strains ofCandida albicans produce large numbers of chlamydospores in a liquid medium composed of 1% sodium taurocholate in distilled water. Studies made of these chlamydospores revealed that they do not contain endospores or ascospores but they do contain globules which are lipoid in character. These globules are extruded when chlamydospores split in the liquid medium or under slight pressure. Evidence was not obtained which could support van der Walt's (1967, 1969) statements to the effect that chlamydospores bud, germinate or change into other types of cells. Furthermore, no morphological or cytological evidence was found to substantiate the proposed life cycle ofC. albicans as outlined by van der Walt (1969). It is suggested that a possible function of the chlamydospores ofC. albicans is that of a storage cell.