Many filamentous ascomycetes develop three-dimensional fruiting bodies for production and dispersal of sexual spores. Fruiting bodies are among the most complex structures differentiated by ascomycetes; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are insufficiently understood. Previous comparative transcriptomics analyses of fruiting body development in different ascomycetes suggested that there might be a core set of genes that are transcriptionally regulated in a similar manner across species. Conserved patterns of gene expression can be indicative of functional relevance, and therefore such a set of genes might constitute promising candidates for functional analyses. In this study, we have sequenced the genome of the Pezizomycete Ascodesmis nigricans, and performed comparative transcriptomics of developing fruiting bodies of this fungus, the Pezizomycete Pyronema confluens, and the Sordariomycete Sordaria macrospora With only 27 Mb, the A. nigricans genome is the smallest Pezizomycete genome sequenced to date. Comparative transcriptomics indicated that gene expression patterns in developing fruiting bodies of the three species are more similar to each other than to nonsexual hyphae of the same species. An analysis of 83 genes that are upregulated only during fruiting body development in all three species revealed 23 genes encoding proteins with predicted roles in vesicle transport, the endomembrane system, or transport across membranes, and 13 genes encoding proteins with predicted roles in chromatin organization or the regulation of gene expression. Among four genes chosen for functional analysis by deletion in S. macrospora, three were shown to be involved in fruiting body formation, including two predicted chromatin modifier genes.

中文翻译：

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比较基因组学和转录组学分析丝状子囊菌子实体发育。


许多丝状子囊菌发育出三维子实体以产生和传播有性孢子。子实体是子囊菌分化的最复杂的结构之一。然而，这一过程背后的分子机制尚不清楚。先前对不同子囊菌子实体发育的比较转录组学分析表明，可能存在一组核心基因，它们在不同物种之间以类似的方式进行转录调控。基因表达的保守模式可以表明功能相关性，因此这样一组基因可能构成功能分析的有希望的候选者。在这项研究中，我们对Pezizomycete Ascodesmis nigricans的基因组进行了测序，并对该真菌的子实体发育进行了比较转录组学，Pezizomycete Pyronema conluens和 Sordariomycete Sordaria macrospora仅有 27 Mb， A. nigricans基因组是最小的迄今为止，Pezizomycete 基因组已测序。比较转录组学表明，三个物种的子实体发育中的基因表达模式彼此比同一物种的无性菌丝更相似。对所有三个物种中仅在子实体发育过程中上调的 83 个基因的分析揭示了 23 个编码在囊泡运输、内膜系统或跨膜运输中具有预测作用的蛋白质的基因，以及 13 个编码在染色质组织或跨膜运输中具有预测作用的蛋白质的基因。基因表达的调控。在S中通过删除选择用于功能分析的四个基因。 在大孢子菌中，三个被证明参与子实体形成，包括两个预测的染色质修饰基因。