Cloning of the mating type loci fromPyrenopeziza brassicaereveals the presence of a novel mating type gene within a discomycete MAT 1-2 locus encoding a putative metallothionein-like protein

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Abstract
The mating type loci were cloned from Pyrenopeziza brassicae by chromosome walking from a mating type‐linked polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment and shown to be idiomorphic by sequence analysis. The MAT 1‐1 locus is approximately 3.2 kb and contains a single gene encoding a putative high‐mobility group (HMG) domain protein. The MAT 1‐2 locus is approximately 3.9 kb with three open reading frames (ORFs) encoding a putative HMG domain, an α‐1 domain and metallothionein‐like proteins. The putative α‐1 domain ORF on MAT 1‐2 is transcribed in the opposite orientation to the other two transcripts and extends into non‐idiomorphic sequence. This is the first report of sequence analysis of the mating type loci from a discomycete fungus, which has revealed an interesting mating type infrastructure within the MAT 1‐2 locus. Although metallothionein‐like proteins have been implicated in a number of processes in animals and plants, they have not to date been implicated in the mating process of filamentous fungi. Possible roles for metallothionein‐like proteins in the mating process are discussed.