Mating-Type Switching in Budding Yeasts, from Flip/Flop Inversion to Cassette Mechanisms
Kenneth H. Wolfe, Geraldine Butler
Abstract
Mating-type switching is a natural but unusual genetic control process that regulates cell identity in ascomycete yeasts. It involves physically replacing one small piece of genomic DNA by another, resulting in replacement of the master regulatory genes in the mating pathway and hence a switch of cell type and mating behavior. In this review, we concentrate on recent progress that has been made on understanding the origins and evolution of mating-type switching systems in budding yeasts (subphylum Saccharomycotina).
Topics & Concepts
BiologyMating of yeastHomothallismMating typeSaccharomyces cerevisiaeGeneticsLocus (genetics)Budding yeastEvolutionary biologyYeastGeneFungal and yeast genetics researchYeasts and Rust Fungi StudiesGenetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals