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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Sexual Crosses with the Mucoromycete Phycomyces blakesleeanus
Published on: June 6, 2025
"Pollination" of a fungus by a fly
Thomas L Bultman1, James F White2
1Department of Zoology, University of Texas-Austin, 78712-1064, Austin, TX, USA.
Abstract:
The mechanism resulting in fertilization of Epichloë typhina, a heterothallic ascomycete that is an endophytic pathogen of grasses, has now been discovered. Conidia of one mating type are produced in stromata and are then transferred by insects to individuals of the opposite mating type. One insect, Phorbia phrenione, is a particularly important vector of conidia. Once conidia of the opposite mating type have been transferred to a stroma, the life cycle continues with the formation of perithecia.
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