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Genetics, Vol 146, 1299-1309, Copyright © 1997
INVESTIGATIONS |
Allelic Specificity at the het-c Heterokaryon Incompatibility Locus of Neurospora crassa Is Determined by a Highly Variable Domain
S. J. Saupe and N. L. Glass
Botany Department and The Biotechnology Laboratory, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada
In filamentous fungi, the ability to form a productive heterokaryon with a genetically dissimilar individual is controlled by specific loci termed het loci. Only strains homozygous for all het loci can establish a heterokaryon. In Neurospora crassa, 11 loci, including the mating-type locus, regulate the capacity to form heterokaryons. An allele of the het-c locus (het-c(OR)) of N. crassa has been previously characterized and encodes a nonessential 966 amino acid glycine-rich protein. Herein, we describe the genetic and molecular characterization of two het-c alleles, het-c(PA) and het-c(GR), that have a different specificity from that of het-c(OR), showing that vegetative incompatibility is mediated by multiple alleles at het-c. By constructing chimeric alleles, we show that het-c specificity is determined by a highly variable domain of 34-48 amino acids in length. In this regard, het-c is similar to loci that regulate recognition in other species, such as the (S) self-incompatibility locus in plants, the sexual compatibility locus in basidiomycetes and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in vertebrates.