Heterothallic species have sexes that reside in different individuals. The term is applied particularly to distinguish heterothallic fungi, which require two compatible partners to produce sexual spores, from homothallic ones, which are capable of sexual reproduction from a single organism.
In heterothallic fungi, two different individuals contribute nuclei to form a zygote. Examples of heterothallism are included for Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium marneffei and Neurospora crassa. The heterothallic life cycle of N. crassa is given in some detail, since similar life cycles are present in other heterothallic fungi.
Certain heterothallic species (such as Neurospora tetrasperma) are called "pseudo-homothallic". Instead of separating into four individual spores by two meiosis events, only a single meiosis occurs, resulting in two spores, each with two haploid nuclei of different mating types (those of its parents). This results in a spore which can mate with itself (intratetrad mating, automixis).[1]
- ^ Billiard, S.; LóPez‐Villavicencio, M.; Hood, M. E.; Giraud, T. (June 2012). "Sex, outcrossing and mating types: unsolved questions in fungi and beyond". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 25 (6): 1020–1038. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02495.x. ISSN 1010-061X.