Title
Highly variable mitochondrial inheritance in intra- and inter-lineage crosses of Cryptococcus gattii
Date of Award
Fall 2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MSc)
Department
Biology
Supervisor
Jianping Xu
Co-Supervisor
Brian Golding
Language
English
Committee Member
Brian Golding
Abstract
The inheritance of mitochondria and their genomes is predominantly uniparental in plants and animals. However, in fungi, the patterns of inheritance can become complex. Interestingly, in Cryptococcus neoformans, the inheritance pattern is predominantly uniparental. Similar to C. neoformans, closely related Cryptococcus gattii is also a pathogenic fungus, except that it is capable of infecting healthy individuals. In this research, PCR-RFLP was employed on progeny of 14 crosses in order to determine if the mtDNA inheritance pattern is the same in Cryptococcus gattii as was found in C. neoformans. Additionally, the effect of genetic distance between mating partners on mitochondrial inheritance was investigated by using a range of strains across three of the four distinct lineages in C. gattii. My results identified highly variable patterns of inheritance among strains and strain combinations, both within and between the analyzed lineages in C. gattii.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Amanda J., "Highly variable mitochondrial inheritance in intra- and inter-lineage crosses of Cryptococcus gattii" (2011). Open Access Dissertations and Theses. Paper 6441.
http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/opendissertations/6441
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