Absence of short-period repetitive-sequence interspersion in the basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune.

Abstract

Reassociation kinetics and electron microscopy were used to examine the organization of DNA sequences in the Basidiomycete Schizophyllum commune. Short-period interspersion of repetitive and unique sequences is absent from the DNA of this wood-rotting fungus. Instead, repetitive sequences are found predominantly in several, perhaps 16, clusters averaging 225 kilobases in length. The results of this study, the first concerning a fungus in the important fungal Class Basidiomycetidae, are discussed in relation to: sequence organization in three other species of true fungi, fungal evolution and the regulation of gene expression.