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Sexual reproduction and sex determination in green algae

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  • Fusion in Fertilization: Interdisciplinary Collaboration among Plant and Animal Scientists
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Abstract

The sexual reproductive processes of some representative freshwater green algae are reviewed. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular volvocine alga having two mating types: mating type plus (mt+) and mating type minus (mt−), which are controlled by a single, complex mating-type locus. Sexual adhesion between the gametes is mediated by sex-specific agglutinin molecules on their flagellar membranes. Cell fusion is initiated by an adhesive interaction between the mt+ and mt− mating structures, followed by localized membrane fusion. The loci of sex-limited genes and the conformation of sex-determining regions have been rearranged during the evolution of volvocine algae; however, the essential function of the sex-determining genes of the isogamous unicellular Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is conserved in the multicellular oogamous Volvox carteri. The sexual reproduction of the unicellular charophycean alga, Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale complex, is also focused on here. The sexual reproductive processes of heterothallic strains are controlled by two multifunctional sex pheromones, PR-IP and PR-IP Inducer, which independently promote multiple steps in conjugation at the appropriate times through different induction mechanisms. The molecules involved in sexual reproduction and sex determination have also been characterized.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (nos. 24370038, 25304012, 26650147, 15H05237, and 16H04836) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Elucidating common mechanisms of allogenic authentication” (no. 24112713 to H.S.) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. The work was also partly supprted by MEXT KAKENHI (221S0002).

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  1. Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Japan Women’s University, 2-8-1 Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8681, Japan

    Hiroyuki Sekimoto

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Sekimoto, H. Sexual reproduction and sex determination in green algae. J Plant Res 130, 423–431 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-017-0908-6

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