Mycelia sterilia: No sex needed!
In a previous post: http://community.livejournal.com/wtf_nature/441629.html#cutid1 , we've seen fungi could have much more than two sexes.
However, the opposite exists also: Mycelia sterilia. No reproduction is known, no type of spore has been observed yet. There's no sexuality known for those fungi!
Spores are light and easily dispersed by wind, water, and in or on animals, so they are quite efficient at finding new sources of food (usually formerly living organic matter). So, how can a fungal species make it in this world if it cannot produce spores?
Fragmentation. That is how mycelia sterilia reproduce and access new sources of food.(...)
So how is it that those species that never developed sporulation, or lost it along the way somewhere, remain viable? Apparently, the rapid growth and easy break-up of the hyphae in mycelia sterilia is enough to spread them around and generate just enough change (through random mutation during cell division) to keep them one step ahead of Mother Nature’s sword.
Read more: http://mycology.suite101.com/article.cfm/mycelia_sterilia
However, the opposite exists also: Mycelia sterilia. No reproduction is known, no type of spore has been observed yet. There's no sexuality known for those fungi!
Spores are light and easily dispersed by wind, water, and in or on animals, so they are quite efficient at finding new sources of food (usually formerly living organic matter). So, how can a fungal species make it in this world if it cannot produce spores?
Fragmentation. That is how mycelia sterilia reproduce and access new sources of food.(...)
So how is it that those species that never developed sporulation, or lost it along the way somewhere, remain viable? Apparently, the rapid growth and easy break-up of the hyphae in mycelia sterilia is enough to spread them around and generate just enough change (through random mutation during cell division) to keep them one step ahead of Mother Nature’s sword.
Read more: http://mycology.suite101.com/article.cfm/mycelia_sterilia