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Updated: May 5, 2026

Sexual Development and Ascospore Discharge in Fusarium graminearum
Published on: March 29, 2012
Evolution of fungal sexual reproduction
Joseph Heitman1, Sheng Sun, Timothy Y James
1Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
Abstract:
We review here recent advances in our understanding of the genetic, molecular and genomic basis of sex determination and sexual reproduction in the fungal kingdom as a window on the evolution of sex in eukaryotes more generally. In particular, we focus on the evolution of the mating-type locus and transitions in modes of sexual reproduction using examples from throughout the kingdom. These examples illustrate general principles of the origins of mating-type loci/sex chromosomes and the balance between inbreeding and outcrossing afforded by different modes of sexual reproduction involving tetrapolar, bipolar and unipolar sexual cycles.
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