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High mobility group (HMG-box) genes in the honeybee fungal pathogen Ascosphaera apis

     Honey Bee Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Weslaco, Texas 78596

J.H. de León

     Beneficial Insects Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Weslaco, Texas 78596

X. Qin
G.M. Weinstock

     Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030

The genome of the honeybee fungal pathogen Ascosphaera apis (Maassen) encodes three putative high mobility group (HMG-box) transcription factors. The predicted proteins (MAT1-2, STE11 and HTF), each of which contain a single strongly conserved HMG-box, exhibit high similarity to mating type proteins and STE11-like transcription factors previously identified in other ascomycete fungi, some of them important plant and human pathogens. In this study we characterized the A. apis HMG-box containing genes and analyzed the structure of the mating type locus (MAT1-2) and its flanking regions. The MAT1-2 locus contains a single gene encoding a protein with an HMG-box. We also have determined the transcriptional patterns of all three HMG-box containing genes in both mating type idiomorphs and discuss a potential role of these transcription factors in A. apis development and reproduction. A multiplex PCR method with primers amplifying mat1-2-1 and Ste11 gene fragments is described. This new method allows for identification of a single mating type idiomorph and might become an essential tool for applied and basic research of chalkbrood disease in honeybees.

Key words: Ascosphaera apis, gene expression, HMG-box, honeybee, idiomorph, mating type, transcription factor