Mating configurations in Schizosaccharomyces pombe strains of different geographical origins

In genetic research with Schizosaccharomyces pombe the strains used are almost exclusively descendants of the clones originally isolated by Leupold. In the standard homothallic (h⁹⁰) strain three closely linked mating-type (MT) genes are present in the MT region: the actual MT locus, mat1, and two silent cassettes, mat2 and mat3, respectively. Various rearrangements are known in the MT region, e.g., heterothallic h⁺ or h^- strains arise by duplications or deletions. In the present paper we analysed the mating behavior and the configurations of the MT regions of 19 S. pombe isolates from different parts of the world. In comparison with the Leupold strains several new MT configurations were found.