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The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) ofAbsidia glaucahas been completely sequenced. It is 63,080 bp long, has a G+C content of 28%, and contains the standard fungal gene set.A. glaucais the recipient in a laboratory model for horizontal gene transfer withParasitella parasiticaas a donor of nuclei and mitochondria., (Copyright © 2016 Ellenberger et al.)

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the Mucor-related fungus Parasitella parasitica has been sequenced. It has a G+C content of 30% and a total length of 83,361 bp. All protein-coding genes normally found in fungi are present in the sequence. A special feature is the remarkably high number of 27 homing endonucleases., (Copyright © 2014 Ellenberger et al.)

Dermatophytes cause the majority of superficial mycoses in humans and animals. However, little is known about the pathogenicity of this specialized group of filamentous fungi, for which molecular research has been limited thus far. During experimental infection of guinea pigs by the human pathogenic dermatophyte Arthroderma benhamiae, we recently detected the activation of the fungal gene encoding malate synthase AcuE, a key enzyme of the glyoxylate cycle. By the establishment of the first genetic system for A. benhamiae, specific ΔacuE mutants were constructed in a wild-type strain and, in addition, in a derivative in which we inactivated the nonhomologous end-joining pathway by deletion of the A. benhamiae KU70 gene. The absence of AbenKU70 resulted in an increased frequency of the targeted insertion of linear DNA by homologous recombination, without notably altering the monitored in vitro growth abilities of the fungus or its virulence in a guinea pig infection model. Phenotypic analyses of ΔacuE mutants and complemented strains depicted that malate synthase is required for the growth of A. benhamiae on lipids, major constituents of the skin. However, mutant analysis did not reveal a pathogenic role of the A. benhamiae enzyme in guinea pig dermatophytosis or during epidermal invasion of the fungus in an in vitro model of reconstituted human epidermis. The presented efficient system for targeted genetic manipulation in A. benhamiae, paired with the analyzed infection models, will advance the functional characterization of putative virulence determinants in medically important dermatophytes.

The NADP-dependent 4-dihydrotrisporin-dehydrogenase is a (-) mating-type-specific enzyme in the pathway from beta-carotene to trisporic acid. This substance and its isomers and derivatives represent the general system of sexual communication in zygomycetes. The (-) mating type of Mucor mucedo was stimulated by trisporic acid and the enzyme was purified by ion exchange and affinity chromatography. Several peptides of the 26-kDa protein, digested with trypsin, were sequenced by mass spectrometry. Oligonucleotides based on protein sequence data were used for PCR amplification of genomic DNA. The primary PCR fragment was sequenced and the complete gene, TSP2, was isolated. A labeled TSP2 hybridization probe detects a single-copy gene in the genome of M. mucedo. Northern blot analysis with RNAs from different growth stages reveals that the expression of the gene depends on the developmental stage of the mycelium in both mating types of M. mucedo. At the enzyme level, activity is found exclusively in the (-) mating type. However, renaturation of proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate-containing gels revealed the TSP2 gene product in both mating types. Analyzing the protein sequence places the enzyme in the short chain dehydrogenase superfamily. Thus, it has an evolutionary origin distinct from that of the previously isolated 4-dihydromethyltrisporate dehydrogenase, which belongs to the aldo/keto reductase superfamily. Apart from the TSP2 genes in the three sequenced zygomycetous genomes (Phycomyces blakesleeanus, Rhizopus oryzae, and Mucor circinelloides), the closest relative is the Myxococcus xanthus CsgA gene product, which is also a short chain dehydrogenase, involved in C signaling and fruiting body formation.

Two filamentous fungi with different phenotypes were isolated from crushed healthy spores or perforated dead spores of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Scutellospora castanea. Based on comparative sequence analysis of 5.8S ribosomal DNA and internal transcribed spacer fragments, one isolate, obtained from perforated dead spores only, was assigned to the genus Nectria, and the second, obtained from both healthy and dead spores, was assigned to Leptosphaeria, a genus that also contains pathogens of plants in the Brassicaceae. PCR and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-PCR analyses, however, did not indicate similarities between pathogens and the isolate. The presence of the two isolates in both healthy spores and perforated dead spores of S. castanea was finally confirmed by transmission electron microscopy by using distinctive characteristics of the isolates and S. castanea. The role of this fungus in S. castanea spores remains unclear, but the results serve as a strong warning that sequences obtained from apparently healthy AMF spores cannot be presumed to be of glomalean origin and that this could present problems for studies on AMF genes.