Eukaryotic Cell doi:10.1128/EC.00430-07
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.
Eighty years after its discovery, Fleming's Penicillium strain discloses the secret of its sex
Birgit Hoff,
Stefanie Pöggeler,
and
Ulrich Kück*
Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine und Molekulare Botanik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum; Abteilung Genetik eukaryotischer Mikroorganismen, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, 37077 Göttingen
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Abstract |
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Eighty years ago, Alexander Fleming discovered an anti-bacterial activity in the asexual mold Penicillium that later was replaced by an overproducing isolate still used for penicillin production today. Using a heterologous PCR approach, we show that these strains are of opposite mating types and that both have retained transcriptionally expressed pheromone and pheromone receptor genes required for sexual reproduction. This discovery extends options for industrial strain improvement programs using conventional genetical approaches.
