Neurospora alcoy linkage tester stocks with group VII marked, and their use for mapping translocations

The original alcoy strains (T(I;II)4637 al-1; T(IV;V)R2355, cot-1; T(III;VI)1, ylo-1. Perkins et al. 1969 Genetica 40:247-278) contain three unlinked translocations tagged with markers that can be conveniently scored by inspection, without transfer. Linkage group VII is not involved in any of the translocations and was not marked. Failure to show linkage to an alcoy marker implied that the unknown was either in linkage group VII or was far removed from a marker in one of the marked groups, I-VI

Transfer of genes and translocations from Neurospora crassa to N. tetrasperma

It is difficult to obtain progeny when N. crassa and N. tetrasperma are intercrossed directly. Metzenberg and Ahlgren (1969 Neurospora Newsl. 15:9-10; 1973 Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 15:571-576) developed a transfer kit of interspecific hybrids which they used for bridging-crosses that enabled them to move the mating type genes from N. tetrasperma into N. crassa. I have recently been concerned with introgressing mutant genes and translocations from N. crassa into N. tetrasperma, and have found their strain C4,T4 a (FGSC 1778) extremely useful for the initial cross, and more fertile than other members of the kit

Neurospora chromosome rearrangements with mutant phenotypes provide an opportunity to sequence breakpoint junctions

Present knowledge of junction sequences is inadequate for understanding how chromosome rearrangements originate. In N. crassa, cloned segments are known to cover breakpoints of T(IR-\u3eVIR)UK-T12 (Asch et al. 1992 Genetics 130:737-748), T(VR;VIL)mpr15-2 am (E.B. Cambareri and J. A. Kinsey, personal communication), T(IR;IIR)4637 al-1 (Schmidhauser et al. 1990 Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:5064-5070), T(IR-\u3eVII;I;IV)AR173 (Kang and Metzenberg 1990 Mol. Cell Biol. 10:5839-5848; S. D. Haedo, personal communication), T(IR-\u3eVII)TM429 his-3 (Catcheside and Angel 1974 Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 27:219-229; Legerton and Yanofsky 1985 Gene 39:129-140, T(VIL-\u3eIR)IBj5 cpc-1 (Paluh et al. 1990 Genetics 124:599-606), T(IR-\u3eVL)AR190 (Butler 1992 Genetics 131:581-592), and T(IIL-\u3eIIIR)AR18 and T(IIL-\u3eVI)P2869 (M. L. Smith and N. L. Glass, personal communication). However, nucleotide sequencing across junctions has been accomplished only for the first two

Neurospora tetrasperma bibliography - Additions

During the evolutionary divergence of N. tetrasperma from the eight-spored Neurospora species, ascus development was reprogrammed with the result that each of the four large ascospores is heterokaryotic, containing nuclei of both mating types, and germlings are self-fertile. Unique features of genome oganization, cell biology, and population structure have attracted investigators to use this pseudohomothallic, four-spored species for a wide range of studies. A bibliography listing 164 publications was published in 1994 in Fungal Genetics Newsletter 41:72-78. Eighty-six additional publications are listed here. In addition to recent papers, these include some theses, abstracts, and papers that were omitted from the previous list

A new report concerning nuclear DNA content and premeiotic DNA synthesis in fungi

R. Duran and P. M. Gray have published results of considerable interest that may escape notice because of the title and the journal ( Nuclear DNA, an adjunct to morphology in fungal taxonomy . Mycotaxon 36:205-219, 1989). Data are presented on nuclear DNA content of species of Neurospora and smut fungi and on the time of premeiotic DNA synthesis

The first published scientific study of Neurospora, including a description of photoinduction of carotenoids

In the warm, moist summer of 1842, bread from army bakeries in Paris was spoiled by massive growth of an orange mold. A commission was set up by the minister of war to investigate the cause of the infestation and to make recommendations. Their report (Payen 1843) includes a colored plate which shows mycelia, conidia and colonies of the Champignons rouges du pain (called Oidium aurantiacum). I have translated one passage which concerns the effects of illumination

Why Red bread mold is an inappropriate name for Neurospora

The common names red bread mold and bread mold are inaccurate and misleading. They should be abandoned

Wild type Neurospora crassa strains preferred for use as standards

The highly inbred Neurospora crassa strains 74-OR23-1VA (FGSC 2489) and 74-ORS-6a (FGSC 4200) are recommended for use as standard wild types

Neurospora tetrasperma bibliography

Dodge\u27s discoveries of pseudohomothallism and of heterokaryosis were both accomplished using Neurospora tetrasperma, which remained his favorite species. In the decades following Dodge\u27s work, studies involving N. tetrasperma were continued in only a few laboratories, notably those of Alfred Sussman, Branch Howe, Adrian Srb, and Robert Metzenberg. The species has now begun to receive increased attention, both for comparative molecular-evolutionary studies and for studies that take advantage of certain unique features. Nuclear, mitochondrial, and plasmid DNA\u27s have been used to explore phylogenetic relationships. Work is progressing on ascus development, recombination, vegetative incompatibility, and mating type. The following list is a first attempt to bring together the scattered literature on N. tetrasperma. (A few entries are also included that deal with pseudohomothallism generally.) The search has not been exhaustive. Please call any nontrivial omissions to my attention

New multicent linkage testers for centromere-linked genes and rearrangements in Neurospora

A tester described in 1972 contained readily-scored markers near the centromeres of all seven linkage groups (Perkins, Neurospora Newsl. 19:33). That tester, now called multicent-1, was somewhat more laborious to score than alcoy (Perkins et al. 1969 Genetica 40:247-278) or its successor alcoy;csp-2 (Perkins and Björkman 1979 Neurospora Newsl. 26:9-10). multicent-1 had the advantage over alcoy of requiring no follow-up cross to distinguish alternatives, and it was somewhat more effective in detecting linkage of left-arm markers. Because alcoy itself contains three translocations, multicent-1 was more likely to identify the chromosomes involved in new centromere-linked translocations (Perkins and Barry 1977 Adv. Genet. 19:133-285)