Yes, you read that right.
Fungi have over 36,000 different sexes. And maybe even more.
And, just to confuse matters even further, some species have no sexes - they are completely asexual.
One particular group of bracket or shelf fungi called Trichaptum has recently been the focus of intense study. Over 180 specimens from three Trichaptum species were collected and tested using advanced DNA analysis. The team subsequently found that this one small group of fungi alone has a staggering 17,550 different sexes. Another species that was studied, Schizophyllum commune, was found to have more than 23,000 different sexual identities.
It sounds confusing (and it is) but, put simply, terms like 'male' and 'female' simply do not apply to fungi. Instead of sexes, they have 'mating types', with sex cells that differ at the molecular level rather than anatomically. And having so many mating types is advantageous to them.
If you only have two mating types - say, male and female - it means that only half the population is eligible as a mate for any individual. With three mating types, that rises to two-thirds (assuming you can't mate with your own type). The more types there are, the better your chances. Meanwhile, should a new mating type appear as a random mutation, it wouldn’t have a problem with finding a match as it would be able to mate with pretty much everyone else.
Species with two sexes can only reproduce by introducing the genetic material from a female to genetic material from a male by way of specialised sex organs. Fungi, meanwhile, do not need sex organs - they can reproduce by merely being in physical contact with another member of their species. If humans worked the same way, you could get pregnant simply by bumping into any other human - whatever their gender - and they would get pregnant too.
Fungi can even mate with themselves as the concept of 'individual' is different for them. When you see a cluster of mushrooms they are all fruiting bodies belonging to a large single fungus living underground and spread over a wide area.
All clear? Even if it isn't (and I'm not sure I fully understand it yet), don't lose any sleep over it. Leave it to the geneticists. Just know that their curious sex life makes it really easy for fungi to spread because there are so many options open to them. Which is undoubtedly why they have been so spectacularly successful.
We're only just starting to appreciate how important these not-animals and not-plants are. They (and bacteria) are responsible for breaking down organic matter and releasing carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus into the soil and the atmosphere. They are essential to many household and industrial processes, notably the making of bread, wine, beer, and certain cheeses. They make penicillin, statins and other life-saving drugs. They form relationships with algae to form lichens (see here) and they form symbiotic partnerships with 90% of all land plants, During winter, when day length is shortened and exposure to sunlight is reduced, plants rely on fungi to provide mineral nutrients, sugars, and nitrogenous compound. They can even pass messages and nutrients between plants via their underground mycorrhizal networks - something that has been nicknamed the 'Wood-Wide Web'.
And some live inside us - mainly in the gut - and perform many useful functions especially in relation to our immune systems.
So hoorah for the sexy fungi.
Though we can only guess what their equivalent of Tinder would look like.
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