Study
Life history and developmental processes in the basidiomycete Coprinus cinereus
Kües, Ursula
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 2000
A review of the complete life cycle of a model ink cap: spore germination, the monokaryotic mycelium, mating-type recognition, hyphal fusion, the dikaryon, and the environmental cues that trigger fruiting-body development.
- Studied in
- Coprinopsis cinerea, Basidiomycota
- Sample size
- review of one model basidiomycete life cycle
Two compatible monokaryotic mycelia fuse and produce a dikaryon in which two genetically distinct nuclei persist side by side for the organism’s vegetative life, dividing in step without fusing. Nuclear fusion happens only in the developing basidium, immediately before meiosis and spore formation. Mating compatibility is governed by two unlinked loci with many alleles, producing thousands of mating types rather than two sexes.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
The prolonged dikaryotic stage, with fusion deferred until sporulation, is a defining feature of basidiomycete life history rather than an incidental detail.
How NatureHQ reads it
This is the paper that makes "do fungi have sexes?" answerable. The compatibility system is not two sexes but two gene loci with dozens of alleles each, which in some species yields more than twenty thousand mating types — any two of which can pair provided they differ at both loci. And the fungus spends nearly its whole life carrying two unfused nuclei, which is not something animals or plants do at all.
- One model species; mating systems differ substantially across the fungi.
- Laboratory fruiting conditions are far more controlled than a woodland floor.
- Ascomycetes and the early-diverging fungal lineages have different life cycles again.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Elsevier journalsPublished in an Elsevier journal.
doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.64.2.316-353.2000
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.