The sexual cycle of
N. crassa is heterothallic. Sexual fruiting bodies (
perithecia) can only be formed when two mycelia of different mating type come together. Like other
ascomycetes,
N. crassa has two mating types that, in this case, are symbolized by 'A' and 'a'. There is no evident morphological difference between the 'A' and 'a' mating type strains. Both can form abundant protoperithecia, the female reproductive structure (see
figure, top of §). Protoperithecia are formed most readily in the laboratory when growth occurs on solid (agar) synthetic medium with a relatively low source of nitrogen. Nitrogen starvation appears to be necessary for expression of genes involved in sexual development. The protoperithecium consists of an
ascogonium, a coiled multicellular
hypha that is enclosed in a knot-like aggregation of hyphae. A branched system of slender hyphae, called the trichogyne, extends from the tip of the ascogonium projecting beyond the sheathing hyphae into the air. The sexual cycle is initiated (i.e. fertilization occurs) when a cell (usually a conidium) of opposite mating type contacts a part of the trichogyne (see
figure, top of §). Such contact can be followed by cell fusion leading to one or more nuclei from the fertilizing cell migrating down the trichogyne into the ascogonium. Since both 'A' and 'a' strains have the same sexual structures, neither strain can be regarded as exclusively male or female. However, as a recipient, the protoperithecium of both the 'A' and 'a' strains can be thought of as the female structure, and the fertilizing conidium can be thought of as the male participant. The subsequent steps following fusion of 'A' and 'a' haploid cells, have been outlined by Fincham and Day, and by Wagner and Mitchell. After fusion of the cells, the further fusion of their nuclei is delayed. Instead, a nucleus from the fertilizing cell and a nucleus from the ascogonium become associated and begin to divide synchronously. The products of these nuclear divisions (still in pairs of unlike mating type, i.e. 'A' / 'a') migrate into numerous ascogenous hyphae, which then begin to grow out of the ascogonium. Each of these ascogenous hypha bends to form a hook (or crozier) at its tip and the 'A' and 'a' pair of haploid nuclei within the crozier divide synchronously. Next, septa form to divide the crozier into three cells. The central cell in the curve of the hook contains one 'A' and one 'a' nucleus (see
figure, top of §). This binuclear cell initiates ascus formation and is called an "ascus-initial" cell. Next the two
uninucleate cells on either side of the first ascus-forming cell fuse with each other to form a
binucleate cell that can grow to form a further crozier that can then form its own ascus-initial cell. This process can then be repeated multiple times. After formation of the ascus-initial cell, the 'A' and 'a' nucleus fuse with each other to form a diploid nucleus (see
figure, top of §). This nucleus is the only diploid nucleus in the entire life cycle of
N. crassa. The diploid nucleus has 14 chromosomes formed from the two fused haploid nuclei that had 7 chromosomes each. Formation of the diploid nucleus is immediately followed by
meiosis. The two sequential divisions of meiosis lead to four haploid nuclei, two of the 'A' mating type and two of the 'a' mating type. One further mitotic division leads to four 'A' and four 'a' nuclei in each
ascus.
Meiosis is an essential part of the life cycle of all sexually reproducing organisms, and in its main features, meiosis in
N. crassa seems typical of meiosis generally. As the above events are occurring, the mycelial sheath that had enveloped the ascogonium develops as the wall of the perithecium, becomes impregnated with
melanin, and blackens. The mature perithecium has a flask-shaped structure. A mature perithecium may contain as many as 300 asci, each derived from identical fusion diploid nuclei. Ordinarily, in nature, when the perithecia mature the ascospores are ejected rather violently into the air. These ascospores are heat resistant and, in the lab, require heating at 60 °C for 30 minutes to induce germination. For normal strains, the entire sexual cycle takes 10 to 15 days. In a mature ascus containing 8 ascospores, pairs of adjacent spores are identical in genetic constitution, since the last division is mitotic, and since the ascospores are contained in the ascus sac that holds them in a definite order determined by the direction of nuclear segregations during meiosis. Since the four primary products are also arranged in sequence, the pattern of genetic markers from a first-division segregation can be distinguished from the markers from a second-division segregation pattern. == See also ==