Self-fertile or self-sterile – genome evolution in the genus Sordaria
In fungi, the different sexes are referred to as mating types (MAT). In the Ascomycota, the MAT locus exists in two alternative versions, MAT1-1 and MAT1-2. It encodes transcription factors, which usually control the mating type-specific pheromone and pheromone receptor genes located elsewhere in the genome. Heterothallic species are self-sterile: a strain carries one version and needs a partner of the other mating type to complete the sexual cycle. Homothallic species such as S. macrospora are self-fertile; their genomes combine the genes for the mating-type transcription factors.
The genus Sordaria contains both reproductive systems: S. macrospora, S. humana and S. fimicola are homothallic, whereas S. brevicollis and S. sclerogenia are heterothallic. The heterothallic species also produce asexual spores (microconidia) which are lacking in the homothallic species. The genus is therefore well suited to ask how the reproductive system shapes a genome.
The project builds on our long-standing work on mating-type genes and is part of the Research Training Group 2984 “Evolutionary Genomics: Consequences of Biodiverse Reproductive Systems” (