Q.Describe the different steps of sexual reproduction in fungi.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Sexual reproduction in fungi proceeds through plasmogamy (protoplasm fusion), karyogamy (nuclear fusion) and then meiosis in the zygote to restore the haploid state.
Fungi reproduce sexually through the fusion of two haploid gametes or gametangia of compatible mating strains ('+' and '−' strains), occurring in three distinct, sequential steps:
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Plasmogamy: This is the first step, in which the protoplasms (cytoplasmic contents) of two motile or non-motile gametes fuse together. As a result, two haploid nuclei from the two parent gametes come to lie together within the same cell, but they do not fuse immediately.
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Karyogamy: This is the fusion of the two haploid nuclei brought together during plasmogamy, forming a diploid zygote nucleus.
In many fungi (notably the Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes), karyogamy does not occur immediately after plasmogamy. Instead, the fused cell passes through a dikaryophase, in which pairs of nuclei (n + n, one from each parent) exist together in each cell without fusing — this dikaryotic mycelium may persist and grow for a long time before karyogamy finally occurs.
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