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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2008, p. 6006-6016, Vol. 74, No. 19
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01188-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Asexual Cephalosporin C Producer Acremonium chrysogenum Carries a Functional Mating Type Locus{triangledown}

Stefanie Pöggeler,1,{ddagger} Birgit Hoff,2,3,{ddagger} and Ulrich Kück2,3*

Abteilung Genetik Eukaryotischer Mikroorganismen, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen, Germany,1 Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany,2 Christian Doppler-Labor, Fakultät für Biologie und Biotechnologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany3

Received 28 May 2008/ Accepted 30 July 2008

Acremonium chrysogenum, the fungal producer of the pharmaceutically relevant β-lactam antibiotic cephalosporin C, is classified as asexual because no direct observation of mating or meiosis has yet been reported. To assess the potential of A. chrysogenum for sexual reproduction, we screened an expressed sequence tag library from A. chrysogenum for the expression of mating type (MAT) genes, which are the key regulators of sexual reproduction. We identified two putative mating type genes that are homologues of the {alpha}-box domain gene, MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-1-2, encoding an HPG domain protein defined by the presence of the three invariant amino acids histidine, proline, and glycine. In addition, cDNAs encoding a putative pheromone receptor and pheromone-processing enzymes, as well as components of a pheromone response pathway, were found. Moreover, the entire A. chrysogenum MAT1-1 (AcMAT1-1) gene and regions flanking the MAT region were obtained from a genomic cosmid library, and sequence analysis revealed that in addition to AcMAT1-1-1 and AcMAT1-1-2, the AcMAT1-1 locus comprises a third mating type gene, AcMAT1-1-3, encoding a high-mobility-group domain protein. The {alpha}-box domain sequence of AcMAT1-1-1 was used to determine the phylogenetic relationships of A. chrysogenum to other ascomycetes. To determine the functionality of the AcMAT1-1 locus, the entire MAT locus was transferred into a MAT deletion strain of the heterothallic ascomycete Podospora anserina (the Pa{Delta}MAT strain). After fertilization with a P. anserina MAT1-2 (MAT+) strain, the corresponding transformants developed fruiting bodies with mature ascospores. Thus, the results of our functional analysis of the AcMAT1-1 locus provide strong evidence to hypothesize a sexual cycle in A. chrysogenum.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. Phone: 49 (0)234 3226212. Fax: 49 (0)234 3214184. E-mail: ulrich.kueck{at}rub.de

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 8 August 2008.

{ddagger} These authors contributed equally to this work.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2008, p. 6006-6016, Vol. 74, No. 19
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01188-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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