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Mating in fungi is a complex process governed by mating types. Research on fungal mating has focused on several model species with different behaviour. [3] [4] Not all fungi reproduce sexually and many that do are isogamous; thus, for many members of the fungal kingdom, the terms "male" and "female" do not apply.
Most fungi can produce asexually and sexually. Currently, sexual selection has been studied to occur more predominantly in the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota phyla. Although different sexes are not present within fungi, sexual selection can act due to the presence of different sex roles as well as different mating types as most fungi are hermaphroditic. [1]
Fungi employ two mating systems: heterothallic species allow mating only between individuals of the opposite mating type, whereas homothallic species can mate, and sexually reproduce, with any other individual or itself.
Fungi are classified by the methods of sexual reproduction they employ. The outcome of sexual reproduction most often is the production of resting spores that are used to survive inclement times and to spread. There are typically three phases in the sexual reproduction of fungi: plasmogamy, karyogamy and meiosis. The cytoplasm of two parent ...
Even among fungi that reproduce both sexually and asexually, often only one method of reproduction can be observed at a specific point in time or under specific conditions. Additionally, fungi typically grow in mixed colonies and sporulate amongst each other. These facts have made it very difficult to link the various states of the same fungus.
Homothallic refers to the possession, within a single organism, of the resources to reproduce sexually; [1] i.e., having male and female reproductive structures on the same thallus. The opposite sexual functions are performed by different cells of a single mycelium. [2] It can be contrasted to heterothallic. It is often used to categorize fungi.
Plasmogamy is a stage in the sexual reproduction of fungi, in which the protoplasm of two parent cells (usually from the mycelia) fuse without the fusion of nuclei, effectively bringing two haploid nuclei close together in the same cell.
There are basically two distinct types of sexual reproduction among fungi. The first is outcrossing (in heterothallic fungi). In this case, mating occurs between two different haploid individuals to form a diploid zygote, that can then undergo meiosis. The second type is self-fertilization or selfing (in homothallic fungi). In this case, two ...