Developmental regulation of the methylation of the ribosomal DNA in the basidiomycete fungusSchizophyllum commune

BB. Genetics ofCronartium ribicola. II. Variation in the ribosomal gene cluster

The ribosomal gene repeat in Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch is highly variable among spore samples from British Columbia, Canada. Both restriction site variation and length variation occur. Length heterogeneity results from differences in the number of subrepeats in the intergenic spacer (IGS). The number of IGS size classes in haploid cultures is limited but is very large and highly variable in aeciospores from single cankers. The proportions of different size classes vary among cankers on different trees, and among subsamples taken around the periphery of large old cankers. The results are consistent with the fungus having a haploid infective mycelium that produces functional pycnia that result in localized dikaryotic areas following fusion between flexuous hyphae and pycnia. Restriction site variation appears lower than has been reported in range-wide samples of endemic fungal species, consistent with the hypothesis that introduction of C. ribicola to western North America was limited and does not represent the full genetic range of the species. No particular restriction site variants or IGS size classes characterize samples from particular geographic areas. No evidence for geographic races of the fungus was obtained. Keywords: rusts, rust races, ribosomal DNA, intergenic spacer, population structure, RFLP.

Introduction of hygromycin B resistance into Schizophyllum commune: preferential methylation of donor DNA

Cotransformation of a trp1 strain of Schizophyllum commune with the homologous TRP gene and the Escherichia coli HPT gene was used to study the feasibility of transformation of S. commune to hygromycin B resistance. Southern blot analysis showed that 75% of the TRP transformants contained multiple integrated copies of the HPT gene. However only 7% of the transformants were resistant to 25 micrograms/ml hygromycin B and direct selection for hygromycin B resistance was hampered by the high incidence of spontaneously arising resistant colonies. Rescue of the HPT gene was possible with E. coli JA221 (mcr-) but not with JM83, suggesting methylation of the integrated donor DNA. Isoschizomer analyses confirmed heavy methylation in the HPT gene and flanking vector sequences but not in the homologous donor TRP gene and its flanking vector sequences. Also cotransforming S. commune Sc4 gene and flanking vector sequences were not methylated. A fusion between the S. commune TRP1 and the E. coli HPT genes resulted in only slight or no methylation of both vector and HPT sequences and in a higher hygromycin B resistance level. This suggests that transformation with DNA exclusively containing foreign sequences results in integration into regions where methylation occurs, possibly entailing poor transcription. Methylation of the HPT gene was also indicated by the stimulation of growth by 5-azacytidine of transformants on hygromycin B containing medium.

RFLP-based genetic map of Phanerochaete chrysosporium ME446: lignin peroxidase genes occur in clusters

We describe the construction of an RFLP-based genetic map of the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium ME446. The map is deduced from the allele distributions of 38 RFLP markers in a test set of 53 meiotically derived haploid recombinants of this strain. The map includes a cellulase gene, a matingtype locus and a family of lignin peroxidase (and related) genes that are arranged in two unlinked clusters.