Sexual reproduction is a highly conserved feature of the eukaryotes, yet sexual compatibility is determined by a wide variety of mechanisms. In ascomycete fungi, sexual development is controlled by genes at the mating type (MAT) locus that confer either MAT1-1 or MAT1-2 mating identity. Although the locus harbours, at minimum, a single gene, the individual MAT loci of certain species, including Huntiella omanensis, encode for two or more genes. The MAT1-2 idiomorph of H. omanensis is made up of MAT1-2-1, a primary MAT gene that is highly conserved in the Pezizomycotina and possesses a well-characterized DNA binding motif, the HMG-box domain. The idiomorph also harbours a novel secondary MAT gene, named MAT1-2-7, with no recognizable functional domains. In this study, we developed a transformation and CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing protocol to characterize the MAT1-2-7 gene with respect to its function in mating. We have shown that MAT1-2-7 is essential for sexual reproduction and that isolates carrying the truncated MAT1-2-7 gene are incapable of ascomatal maturation and further sexual development. MAT1-2-7 was also shown to influence the vegetative radial growth rate of H. omanensis, illustrating the pleiotropic effects often associated with MAT genes.

中文翻译：

---

新的曼氏亨氏菌交配基因MAT1-2-7是无子囊成熟所必需的。

有性生殖是真核生物的高度保守的特征，但是性相容性是由多种机制决定的。在子囊真菌中，性发育受赋予MAT1-1或MAT1-2交配身份的交配类型（MAT）基因座的基因控制。尽管基因座至少包含一个基因，但是某些物种的单个MAT基因座（包括曼氏弓形菌）编码两个或多个基因。曼荼罗的MAT1-2独特型由MAT1-2-1组成，MAT1-2-1是一种主要MAT基因，在Pezizomycotina中高度保守，并具有特征明确的DNA结合基序HMG-box域。独特型还含有一个新的名为MAT1-2-7的次级MAT基因，该基因没有可识别的功能域。在这个研究中，我们开发了一种基于CRISPR-Cas9的转化和基因组编辑协议，以针对MAT1-2-7基因在交配中的功能进行表征。我们已经证明，MAT1-2-7对于有性生殖是必不可少的，并且携带截短的MAT1-2-7基因的分离株不能进行无子粒成熟和进一步的性发育。MAT1-2-7还显示出可影响曼陀螺的营养径向生长速率，说明了经常与MAT基因相关的多效性效应。