Abstract

In this study, we investigated the genealogies of genes important for sexual identity, i.e. mating-type (mat) and pheromone-receptor (pre) genes, among heterothallic and peudohomothallic taxa of Neurospora. The resulting genealogies were compared with the species phylogeny derived from non-coding sequences. We found conflicting topologies between the reproductive genealogies and the species phylogeny, and these conflicts were supported by both node support analyses and likelihood tests on the relative fit of datasets to alternative phylogenetic hypotheses. We argue that reproductive genes are more permeable to gene flow, i.e. are more often introgressed between species of Neurospora, than other parts of the genome. Certain conflicts between the species phylogeny and both mat genealogies were observed, suggesting that the two mating-type idiomorphs were selectively introgressed into a species from a single ancestral source. Taken together, the results presented here highlight complex evolutionary trajectories of reproductive genes in the fungal kingdom, which may be of importance for reproductive behavior in natural populations. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Ascomycota; Evolution; Heterothallism; Mating type; Pheromone receptor; Pseudohomothallism

Published in

Fungal Genetics and Biology
2010, Volume: 47, number: 10, pages: 869-878
Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

SLU Authors

• Menkis, Audrius

  • Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2010.06.008

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/60329