On a Special Collection in MMBR on Sex in Fungi: Molecular Mechanisms and Evolutionary Implications
Year: 2021
Type: editorial
Abstract: Diverse organisms from fungi to animals and plants undergo sexual reproduction, the process via which genes and chromosomes are reassorted to produce diversity, enabling adaptation to constantly changing environments and enabling progeny to avoid accumulation of deleterious mutations. Sex is thus fundamental in both the origins and the success of species and is conserved throughout eukaryotes. Yet, at the level of the individual sex is one of the most risky behaviors given the increased potential for infection or predation as well as the whims of a meiotic process which involves sharing equally genetic contributions to offspring with another. Biologists have long been fascinated with the genetic, molecular, and cell biological facets that define sexual identity and drive sexual reproduction. By leveraging their special traits, such as ease of experimental manipulation and small genomes, studies on a broad range of organisms in the Fungal Kingdom have illuminated our understanding of these processes and features. The insights that have been derived from studies across this broad kingdom are the subject of this special collection of reviews to be published in Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (MMBR).
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3167535706