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That brings up the question of what one means by "sex". As I understand it, sex is primarily about the kinds of gametes one produces - either large gametes (fe
by lliamander 5y ago
That brings up the question of what one means by "sex". As I understand it, sex is primarily about the kinds of gametes one produces - either large gametes (female) or small gametes (male). The genetic implementation of that is in some sense a secondary detail, since it varies between organisms. Reptiles, for instance, only have XX chromosomes and sex is determined by environment (or something like that).
I would expect that in this case the mushroom still only has two types of gametes, and hence only two sexes. There's just an added bit of complexity determining whether a particular pair of gametes can produce a new organism.
- empthought 5y agoNo, they're isogamous and have no sexes. They do have mating types.
- lliamander 5y agoAh, that makes sense as well. But the idea of thousands of sexes seemed suspect to me.