Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 13, 1233-1241, Copyright © 1996 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
MT Lewis and JF Feldman
The frequency (frq) locus of Neurospora crassa plays a key role in the
organization of circadian rhythms. Similar timing systems have been found
in nearly all eukaryotes as well as some prokaryotes; thus, frq may be an
excellent gene with which to conduct evolutionary studies. To investigate,
we used the cloned frq locus from ascomycete fungi representing two
classical taxonomic classes and three orders to examine two open questions
in ascomycete evolution. Class Pyrenomycetidae is represented by several
species of Neurospora, Sordaria fimicola, and Chromocrea spinulosa; class
Loculoascomycetidae is represented by the marine fungus Leptosphaeria
australiensis. Generation of detailed restriction maps of homologs from the
Neurospora species allows analysis of evolutionary relationships among
these closely related species. A maximum-parsimony tree based on these
restriction data suggests that Neurospora tetrasperma groups more closely
with Neurospora sitophila than with Neurospora crassa using the homothallic
species Neurospora galapagosensis as an outgroup. A maximum- parsimony tree
derived using amino acid sequences from Neurospora crassa, Sordaria
fimicola, Chromocrea spinulosa, and Leptosphaeria australiensis
surprisingly suggests that Leptosphaeria austral should be classified
within Pyrenomycetes rather than in a separate class. This suggestion is
based on the observations that Leptosphaeria groups with Chromocrea on an
evolutionary tree, is more closely related to Neurospora and Sordaria than
is Chromocrea, and shares a conserved intron with Chromocrea. Together,
these data show that frq is a useful gene with which to conduct
evolutionary studies.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Evolution of the frequency (frq) clock locus in Ascomycete fungi
Department of Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz 95064, USA.
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