Spore killing in the fungus Podospora anserina: a connection between meiotic drive and vegetative incompatibility?

Fungi in which the haploid nuclei resulting from meiosis are linearly arranged in asci provide unique opportunities to analyse abnormal segregation. Any meiotic drive system in such fungi will be observed in a cross between a driving and a sensitive strain as spore killing: the degeneration of half...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genetica 2003-01, Vol.117 (1), p.59-65
Main Authors: van der Gaag, Marijn, Debets, Alfons J M, Hoekstra, Rolf F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chromosome Segregation
Chromosomes, Fungal
Fungal Proteins - genetics
Genes, Fungal - genetics
Genetics
Meiosis - genetics
Population genetics
Sordariales - genetics
Spores, Fungal - genetics
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Summary:Fungi in which the haploid nuclei resulting from meiosis are linearly arranged in asci provide unique opportunities to analyse abnormal segregation. Any meiotic drive system in such fungi will be observed in a cross between a driving and a sensitive strain as spore killing: the degeneration of half the ascospores in a certain proportion of the asci. In a sample of some 100 strains isolated from a single natural population we have discovered at least six different meiotic drive elements (van der Gaag et al., 2000). Here we report results of research that was aimed at elucidating a possible correlation between meiotic drive and vegetative incompatibility in eight different Spore killer strains from this population. We show that there is a strong correlation between these two phenotypes, although the precise genetic nature of the correlation is not yet clear. We discuss the implications of our results for the understanding of the population genetics of meiotic drive in Podospora.
ISSN:0016-6707
1573-6857
DOI:10.1023/A:1022364632611