The inhibition of mating in Phycomyces blakesleeanus by light is dependent on the MadA-MadB complex that acts in a sex-specific manner

• Phycomyces mating is inhibited by light via the MadA-MadB photoreceptor.
• Only the (+) mating type of Phycomyces senses light during mating.
• Inhibition involved interactions between the HMG-domain proteins and pheromones.
• Specialized roles exist for each mating type in Phycomyces.

Light is an environmental signal that influences reproduction in the Mucoromycotina fungi, as it does in many other species of fungi. Mating in Phycomyces blakesleeanus is inhibited by light, but the molecular mechanisms for this inhibition are uncharacterized. In this analysis, the role of the light-sensing MadA-MadB complex in mating was tested. The MadA-MadB complex is homologous to the Neurospora crassa White Collar complex. Three genes required for cell type determination in the sex locus or pheromone biosynthesis are transcriptionally-regulated by light and are controlled by MadA and MadB. This regulation acts through the plus partner, indicating that the inhibitory effect of light on mating is executed through only one of the two sexes. These results are an example whereby the mating types of fungi have acquired sex-specific properties beyond their role in conferring cell-type identity, and provide insight into how sex-determining chromosomal regions can expand the traits they control.