Abstract
This study first report to identify the mating type (−)-specific gene of alpha-box and the mating type (+)-specific gene of the high-mobility-group (HMG) DNA-binding domain in zoophilic dermatophytes of Arthroderma benhamiae in an effort to understand the epidemiological characteristics of Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The sequence of the alpha-box gene (1,387 bp) was found to contain two exons, from 184 to 475 bp and from 525 to 1,387 bp, coding a protein of 384 amino acids, beginning with a putative initiating methionine (ATG). The sequence of the HMG gene (1,910 bp) contained two exons, from 234 to 415 bp and from 479 to 1,457 bp, coding a protein of 386 amino acids, beginning with a putative initiating methionine (ATG).
PCR analysis detected the alpha-box gene in A. benhamiae (−) mating type strains but not in (+) mating type strains. On the other hand, the HMG gene was detected in A. benhamiae (+) mating type strains but not in (−) mating type strains. These findings suggest that the HMG and alpha-box genes could be specific to the (+) and (−) mating types, respectively.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Academic Frontier Project of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Nihon University.
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Kano, R., Yamada, T., Makimura, K. et al. Arthroderma benhamiae (The Teleomorph of Trichophyton mentagrophytes) Mating Type-Specific Genes. Mycopathologia 171, 333–337 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9383-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9383-5