A gene cluster with positive and negative elements controls bistability and hysteresis of the crippled versus normal growth in the fungus Podospora anserina.

The Crippled Growth (CG) cell degeneration of the model ascomycete Podospora anserina (strain S) is controlled by a prion-like element and has been linked to the self-activation of the PaMpk1 MAP kinase cascade. Here, we report on the identification of the "86-11" locus containing twelve genes, ten of which are involved either in setting up the self-activation loop of CG or in inhibiting this loop, as demonstrated by targeted gene deletion. Interestingly, deletion of the whole locus results only in the elimination of CG and in no detectable additional physiological defect. Sequence comparison shows that these ten genes belong to four different families, each one endowed with a specific activity: two encode factors activating the loop, a third one encodes a factor crucial for inhibition of the loop and the fourth one participates in inhibiting the loop in a pathway parallel to the one controlled by the previously described PDC1 gene. Intriguingly, a very distant homologue of this "86-11" locus is present at the syntenic position in Podospora comata (strain T) that do not present Crippled Growth. Introgression of the P. comata strain T locus in P. anserina strain S and the P. anserina strain S in P. comata strain T showed that both drive CG in the P. anserina strain S genetic background, but not in the genetic background of strain P. comata T, indicating that genetic determinants outside the twelve-gene locus are responsible for lack of CG in P. comata strain T. Our data question the role of this twelve-gene locus in the physiology of P. anserina.