An abundance of evidence from Neurospora established the basic similarity of genetic mechanisms in fungi, with their small DNA genomes, to those of higher eucaryotes. The present review brings together the widely scattered information on genetic properties, phenotypes,. and map relationships of all the known genes. The basic Neurospora conventions antedate bacterial genetic nomenclature and follow those of Drosophila more closely. A symbol without superscript is used to represent the mutant allele. Although the basic letter symbols for many auxotrophic loci are the same as for those of bacteria, locus symbols for Neurospora often consist of fewer than three letters.
Allelic mutations bear identical locus symbols and numbers.
When new locus symbols, locus numbers, and allele number prefixes are to be assigned, it is advisable to consult other workers and the latest FGSC stock list to avoid duplication. A few symbols that were previously ambiguous or imprecise have been revised here, with the agreement of the investigators concerned. Alleles at several gene loci originated in other Neurospora species and have been introgressed into N. crassa . Introgressed markers have, therefore, been treated as though they had arisen as mutations within N. crassa . Genetic linkage groups are designated by Roman numerals, and cytologically defined chromosomes are designated by Arabic numbers.