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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Sexual Crosses with the Mucoromycete Phycomyces blakesleeanus
Published on: June 6, 2025
Aspergillus nidulans striatin (StrA) mediates sexual development and localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum
Chih-Li Wang1, Won-Bo Shim, Brian D Shaw
1Program for the Biology of Filamentous Fungi, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Abstract:
Striatin family proteins have been identified in animals and fungi and are considered to be scaffolding proteins. In fungi striatin orthologs have been associated with sexual development and virulence to plants. In this study, we characterized the functions and localization of the striatin ortholog, StrA, in Aspergillus nidulans. deltastrA strains showed multiple defects in conidium germination, mycelial radial growth, production of diffusible red pigment, and reduced conidiation. The most striking phenotype is the production of abnormally small cleistothecia that are defective in ascosporogenesis. Over-expression of strA enhanced cleistothecium development and increased the production of Hülle cells in shaking liquid cultures. In addition, we generated strains expressing StrA::eGFP under the endogenous promoter. By co-labeling with FM4-64 and co-localization with nuclear localized StuA(NLS)::DsRed or CxnA (an endoplasmic reticulum marker), we determined that StrA mainly localizes to endoplasmic reticulum and the nuclear envelope.
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