Sexual Reproduction
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Sexual Reproduction
Biological Classification of Class 11
Most true fungi reproduce by sexual method, but in the members of the fungi imperfecti (Deuteromycetes), the sexual stages are either absent or unknown. The sexual reproduction in true fungi is affected by the fusion of two nuclei of different parentage, which may be carried in motile or non motile gametes, in gametangia, or in somatic cells of the thallus.
Types of sexual reproduction
There are different types of sexual reproduction in different groups of fungi.
Sex organs
There are two types of organs (gametangia) male and female. The male sex organ is called antheridium while the female sex organ is called oogonium (in the members of Oomycetes) or ascogonium (in the members of Ascomycetes). There is no development of sex organ in the members of Basidiomycetes, though they reproduce sexually by somatogamy. There is no sexual reproduction at all in the members of Deuteromycetes, so they are called Fungi Imperfecti.
Classification of fungi
A number of criteria are used for classifying fungi. The important ones are morphology of vegetative structure, morphology of reproductive structure, types of meiospores, types of mitospores, life cycle, physiology, biochemistry, etc.
The major groups of fungi are as follows:
