The Search for Mating-Type-Limited Genes in the Homothallic Alga CHLAMYDOMONAS MONOICA

The non-Mendelian erythromycin resistance mutation ery-u1 shows bidirectional uniparental inheritance in crosses between homothallic ery-u1 and ery-u1(+) strains of Chlamydomonas monoica . This inheritance pattern supports a general model for homothallism invoking intrastrain differentiation into opposite compatible mating types and, further, suggests that non-Mendelian inheritance is under mating-type (mt) control in C. monoica as in heterothallic species. However, the identification of genes expressed or required by one gametic cell type, but not the other, is essential to verify the existence of a regulatory mating-type locus in C. monoica and to understand its role in cell differentiation and sexual development. By screening for a shift from bidirectional to unidirectional transmission of the non-Mendelian ery-u1 marker, a mutant with an apparent mating-type-limited sexual cycle defect was obtained. The responsible mutation, mtl-1, causes a 1000-fold reduction in zygospore germination in populations homozygous for the mutant allele and, approximately, a 50% reduction in germination for heterozygous (mtl-1/mtl-1 (+)) zygospores. By next screening for strains unable to yield any viable zygospores in a cross to mtl-1, a second putative mating-type-limited mutant, mtl-2, was obtained. The mtl-2 strain, although self-sterile, mates efficiently with mtl-2(+) strains and shows a unidirectional uniparental pattern of inheritance for the ery-u1 cytoplasmic marker, similar to that observed for crosses involving mtl-1. Genetic analysis indicates that mtl-1 and mtl-2 define unique unlinked Mendelian loci and that the sexual cycle defects of reduced germination (mtl-1) or self-sterility (mtl-2) cosegregate with the effect on ery-u1 cytoplasmic gene transmission. By analogy to C. reinhardtii, the mtl-1 and mtl-2 phenotypes can be explained if the expression of these gene loci is limited to the mt(+) gametic cell type, or if the wild-type alleles at these loci are required for the normal formation and/or functioning of mt( +) gametes only.