Humble Sex Master
If you look through a pile of dead branches in the forest, you might discover the SPLIT GILL MUSHROOM (lat. Schizophyllum commune). From above, this mushroom looks rather unattractive and modest. But as soon as you turn it over, it blooms like a flower. However, this mushroom is famous worldwide not for its humble appearance or its diligent work in decomposing wood. The split gill mushroom is famous as a master of sex! With human gender, everything is quite simple – there are two sex chromosomes (Y, X), whose combination determines the sex (XX - female, YX - male, although, of course, there are exceptions). Well, from a biological standpoint, everything is quite simple, but from other perspectives, it is very complicated. But fungi do not complicate their lives with dilemmas of sexual identity.
Let's start by noting that fungi can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Asexual reproduction is simpler, as it doesn't require mixing different DNA or wandering through the forest in search of a suitable partner. It's suitable when conditions for reproduction and growth are excellent (for example, in summer). This can be simple reproduction by a hyphal fragment, or by simply growing specialized structures in which asexual spores form.
Sexual reproduction, however, is significantly more complicated but has its advantages. In the fungal world, there isn't really such a term as gender, but rather "mating types" or different sexual potential. A fungus can have 2 different mating types, or 100, or even more than 20,000! Like the modest split gill mushroom seen in the photo. Each mating type has its own DNA variant. To help you understand what a hell fungal sex is, I'll add that some fungi can change their mating type, while others can have two different mating types within themselves. Of course, it's only to me that fungal sex seems like hell when I try to understand all the complexity. But fungi don't complicate their lives by charming a partner, building impressive nests, or going on dates. They encounter each other, and if the mating types are compatible, they merge and exchange the necessary cells. No drama.
