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Mating type
 
 
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Mating types occur in eukaryote
Eukaryote

Animals, plants, fungus, and protists are eukaryotes , organisms whose Cell are organized into complex structures enclosed within Cell membrane....
s that undergo sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
 via isogamy
Isogamy

Isogamy refers to a form of sexual reproduction involving gametes of similar morphology, differing only in allele expression in one or more Mating-type region....
. Since the gamete
Gamete

A gamete is a Cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization in organisms that sexual reproduction. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete?called an ovum ?and a male produces th...
s of different mating types look alike, they are often referred to by numbers, letters, or simply "+" and "-" instead of "male" and "female." Mating (fertilization or conjugation
Conjugation

Conjugation may refer to:*Grammatical conjugation, the modification of a verb from its basic form, including:**Latin conjugation**Spanish conjugation...
) can only take place between different mating types.

Isogamic reproduction via mating types is especially prevalent in fungi
Fungus

A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....
. Ascomycetes usually have two mating types referred to as "+" and "-" or in the case of yeast as "a" and "a" (alpha).






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Mating types occur in eukaryote
Eukaryote

Animals, plants, fungus, and protists are eukaryotes , organisms whose Cell are organized into complex structures enclosed within Cell membrane....
s that undergo sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
 via isogamy
Isogamy

Isogamy refers to a form of sexual reproduction involving gametes of similar morphology, differing only in allele expression in one or more Mating-type region....
. Since the gamete
Gamete

A gamete is a Cell that fuses with another gamete during fertilization in organisms that sexual reproduction. In species which produce two morphologically distinct types of gametes, and in which each individual produces only one type, a female is any individual which produces the larger type of gamete?called an ovum ?and a male produces th...
s of different mating types look alike, they are often referred to by numbers, letters, or simply "+" and "-" instead of "male" and "female." Mating (fertilization or conjugation
Conjugation

Conjugation may refer to:*Grammatical conjugation, the modification of a verb from its basic form, including:**Latin conjugation**Spanish conjugation...
) can only take place between different mating types.

Isogamic reproduction via mating types is especially prevalent in fungi
Fungus

A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....
. Ascomycetes usually have two mating types referred to as "+" and "-" or in the case of yeast as "a" and "a" (alpha). Basidiomycetes on the other hand can have thousands of different mating types.

Nothing in the morphology
Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
 reveals that the cells or hyphae are either "+" or "-" but they are distinguished as being two forms of the same species. Mating types differ genetically by having two or more distinct allele
Allele

An allele is one member of a pair or series of different forms of a gene. Usually alleles are coding region, but sometimes the term is used to refer to a junk DNA....
s at a mating-type region
Mating-type region

The mating-type region is a specialized region in the genomes of some yeast and other fungi, usually organized into heterochromatin and possessing unique histone methylation patterns....
 in their genome. These genes typically code for cell surface components that are important in the interaction between different mating types. This interaction between different components is necessary to have sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
.

  • Each mating type can signal its presence to others, (the "female" signals the "male" first by definition). This is done using pheromone
    Pheromone

    A pheromone is a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the opposite gender of the same species. There are alarm signal pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology....
    s, steroid
    Steroid

    A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings, generally arranged in a 6-6-6-5 fashion.Steroids vary by the functional groups attached to these rings and the oxidation state of the rings....
    s, or carotenoid
    Carotenoid

    Carotenoids are organic compound pigments that are naturally occurring in chromoplasts of plants and some other photosynthesis organisms like algae, some types of fungus and some bacterium....
    s.


  • In addition to "male" and "female," there may also be a distinction between strong and weak (e.g. strong female). In saccharomyces
    Saccharomyces

    Saccharomyces is a genus in the kingdom of fungus that includes many species of yeast. Saccharomyces is from Latin meaning sugar fungi....
    , there is a very complex system of mating type alternation from alpha to a through genetic recombination
    Genetic recombination

    Genetic recombination is the process by which a strand of genetic material is broken and then joined to a different DNA molecule. In eukaryotes recombination commonly occurs during meiosis as chromosomal crossover between paired chromosomes....
    .


See also

  • mating of yeast
    Mating of yeast

    The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a simple Microorganism eukaryote with both a diploid and haploid mode of existence. The mating of yeast only occurs between haploids, which can be either the a or a mating type and thus display simple sexual differentiation....
  • mating-type region
    Mating-type region

    The mating-type region is a specialized region in the genomes of some yeast and other fungi, usually organized into heterochromatin and possessing unique histone methylation patterns....