Sexual Revealing

Fungi aren’t sexy, but for some species, like the meningitis-causing Cryptococcus neoformans, sex is the secret to their success. Sexual reproduction combines material from two separate strains, providing ever-increasing genetic diversity, which helps them quickly develop resistance to drugs. A key part of this reproduction is producing spores, which help the fungus spread and survive between infections. Spores are made when the basidium [the spore-making cell] matures, and following meiosis, a process which mixes genetic information. Both of these steps are necessary, so discovering how they coordinate might help halt progress. New research has identified two genes, CSA1 and CSA2, regulating the parallel processes. When either of these genes are silenced, the natural spore production (clearly visible in the normal fungus, left), can’t proceed (right). By revealing the details of this microscopic mating, the research has identified a new potential target for treatments looking to cool down the fungal fornication.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image adapted from work by Linxia Liu and Guang-Jun He, and colleagues
• Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
• Images originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, October 2018