Genetic determination of sporangiophore development inPhycomyces

✍ Scribed by Gutiérrez-Corona, Félix ;Cerdé-Olmedo, Enrique

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 491 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0192-253X
• DOI: 10.1002/dvg.1020090605

✦ Synopsis

The mycelium of the fungus Phycomyces, essentially a giant multinucleate cell, produces two kinds of asexual reproductive structures, called macrophores and microphores, and a succession of structures for sexual reproduction. Following the treatment of spores with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, conditional imb mutants have been isolated that form no macrophores at 2 6 T , but do at 14°C. At the restrictive temperature, few imb mutants (2 of 13) develop microphores, and none is able to complete the sexual cycle. This suggests that genes responsible for macrophorogenesis are involved in microphorogenesis and in sexual development as well. Light reduces macrophorogenesis and totally abolishes microphorogenesis in the wild type under the conditions of our experiments. These photomorphogenetic effects require the normal function of genes ma& and ma&, which are responsible for phototropism. Light inhibits microphorogenesis in the two imb mutants that form microphores at the restrictive temperature. Genetic alterations of carotenogenesis lead to an excess of microphores and a scarcity of macrophores in the dark, but they have little influence on vegetative reproduction in the light.