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mating-type switching

traitmech:000611 · CLASS · PROPOSED

A fungal phenotype enabling conversion from one mating type to another, either reversibly or irreversibly.

Trait evidence (3)

  • DOI:10.5598/imafungus.2015.06.01.13
    In this mating strategy, an individual of one mating type can undergo a switch to the opposite mating type, either bidirectionally (reversibly) or unidirectionally (irreversibly).

    2015 terminology review, PMID:26203424, PMC4500084. Exact sentence from the directly retrieved full-text XML section MATING TYPE SWITCHING (s3), including both subsections read end-to-end. This is definition authority, not experimental replication or an abstract quote. The umbrella includes reversible yeast switching and irreversible mating-type alteration in filamentous fungi. A single founder can yield a mixed-mating-type colony; cellular mating identity and colony-level self-fertility are distinct. The record does not universalize the review's yeast MAT architecture or require a particular endonuclease. Figure 1 and the other mechanism category sections remain uninspected.

  • DOI:10.1534/genetics.107.076315
    Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells can switch between two mating types, plus (P) and minus (M).

    Yamada-Inagawa et al. (2007), PMID:17660548. Exact first sentence of the scientific abstract directly retrieved from Europe PMC core metadata. The study tests synthesis-dependent strand annealing using strains with two engineered mutant P donor cassettes and recovery of wild-type P information at mat1 through heteroduplex formation and repair. This is an in-vivo mechanistic test, not natural-isolate provenance. Do not require this cassette arrangement, exactly two mating types, or the S. pombe replication program for all fungi. Full text, figures, supplements and original strain provenance remain uninspected: the full-text XML endpoint returned HTTP 500 and the PDF mirror returned HTTP 403. The authoritative abstract is indexed and readable despite those access failures.

  • DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006981
    a chromosomal looping out-based mechanism underpins irreversible unidirectional mating-type alteration in filamentous fungi.

    Yun et al. (2017), PMID:28892488, PMC5608430. Exact contiguous clause from Conclusions (sec017), not the scientific abstract or author summary. Scientific abstract, strain/culture Methods, Results sec005-sec007 and Discussion sec013/sec015 were read. Actual Figures 3 and 4 and their captions were inspected. Results and Figure 3 identify DR2 deletion in Cs23-derived T10; Discussion sec013 instead says DR1. Retain the figure-supported DR2 identity, not that conflicting wording. Figure 4 separates fertile Cs23 from T10 aggregates and Cs27-derived transformants that can form perithecia without ascospores. The authors support irreversible MAT loss in C. spinulosa; the detailed nuclear-recognition mechanism remains a model. Original natural provenance, other figures, supplements and unread experimental sections remain unverified. Neither reference-strain labels nor transgenic constructs establish natural canonical examples.

Provenance

Identifier source
TraitMech local identifier
Definition source
DOI:10.5598/imafungus.2015.06.01.13

Parent traits (1)

kg-microbe context

No kg-microbe node embedding matched this record in the 2026-04-25 deepwalk.

Discussions and Knowledge Gaps (2)

Open questions attached to this trait. Seeded by just knowledge-gap-scan and curated; see the corpus-wide index.

Preserve reversible and irreversible switching without equating it with self-fertility.

CURATION TODO OPEN mating-type-switching-scope · raised by codex · 2026-10-04

Not yet attached to a section of this record — a curator sets attaches_to (e.g. causal_graphs#some_edge) so the gap shows beside the mechanism it concerns.

This is a fungal switching capability, not a literal MAT locus, HO gene, donor cassette, direct repeat or static sequence feature. A mating-type change within a cell or developing lineage is distinct from ordinary segregation of mating types among sexual progeny. Resolve cellular, nuclear and colony-level assay scope before assigning the trait to an organism. Switching can contribute to homothallism but is not identical to it; a switched nucleus need not make the whole colony uniformly another mating type. Homothallism, heterothallism, ploidy, heterokaryosis and parasexuality are not is-a parents. PHYSIOLOGY is a filesystem category. Do not require reversibility, one cassette architecture or a universal cell-cycle stage. Resolve external phenotype/process mappings and the scope of mating-type alteration or interconversion before adding exact synonyms or xrefs.

Ground native switching mechanisms and natural strain examples before expanding the record.

CURATION TODO OPEN mating-type-switching-examples-and-mechanism · raised by codex · 2026-10-04

Not yet attached to a section of this record — a curator sets attaches_to (e.g. causal_graphs#some_edge) so the gap shows beside the mechanism it concerns.

Complete uninspected primary experiments and supplements, verify natural strain provenance and resolve active taxonomy before adding canonical examples. Distinguish sequence rearrangement, expressed mating identity, compatibility and completed sexual reproduction; no one readout establishes all the others. An engineered perturbation supports its specific experimental dependency, not a universal native mechanism. Resolve native protein accessions and source-bounded causal claims before adding a graph; do not use NONMECHANISTIC to bypass unresolved grounding. Keep actual abstract-verifier outcomes distinct from manual full-text checks. Source figure/Results evidence takes precedence over the conflicting repeat label noted in the evidence.

Curation history

  1. · MINTED_TRAITMECH_ID · codex

    Added mating-type switching with a DOI-backed terminology review and two primary studies, each with an exact source snippet. Included reversible and irreversible scope, separated switching from MAT content and sexual-cycle readouts, and inspected primary Figures 3 and 4 to retain a source DR1/DR2 discrepancy. Ignored-and-hidden novelty searches and structured METPO review found no exact record. Reserved METPO:1056500 in v488 under released phenotype. Deferred canonical examples, lexical mappings and protein-resolved graphs.