Abstract
The largest subdivision of fungi is the Ascomycotina, whose sexual progeny (ascospores) are enclosed in sac-like structures called asci. This extremely diverse group is composed chiefly of mycelial fungi, but also includes many unicellular yeasts. In this chapter, classical studies detailing the morphology of sexual development of the class Ascomycetes will be reviewed and considered in the context of recent analyses of the molecular aspects of mating. The sexual development and meiotic events of the ascomycetes have long been studied using microscopic, cytological, and genetic analyses. Recently, the sequences specifying mating type in three species, Neurospora crassa (Glass et al. 1988, 1990a; Stäben and Yanofsky 1990; Vollmer and Yanofsky 1986), Podospora anserina (Debuchy and Coppin 1992; Picard et al. 1991) and Cochliobolus heterostrophus (Turgeon et al. 1993; Yoder et al. 1989), have been cloned and characterized.
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Glass, N.L., Nelson, M.A. (1994). Mating-Type Genes in Mycelial Ascomycetes. In: Wessels, J.G.H., Meinhardt, F. (eds) Growth, Differentiation and Sexuality. The Mycota, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-11908-2_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-11908-2_17
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