What are the steps involved in the sexual cycle seen in fungi?
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Solution
Fungi:
These are multicellular, heterotrophic organisms that are capable of reproducing both sexually and asexually.
In unfamiliar environments, fungi tend to reproduce sexually as this can help them survive and adapt to new habitats through genetic variation.
A sexual cycle in fungi consists of the following steps:
Plasmogamy- During this stage, the protoplasts of two cells are fused together to contain two haploid nuclei. The two nuclei are present in the same place but have not yet fused together.
Karyogamy- At this stage, the fusion of the haploid nuclei takes place. This results in the form of a diploid nucleus, having two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent cell. The cell formed after this stage is the zygote.
Meiosis- At this stage, the zygote undergoes meiosis, where the total number of chromosomes in the daughter cells is reduced by half. This restores the haploid stage of fungi.
