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submitted 2 days ago by Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 91 points 2 days ago

To save you a search:

It has a tetrapolar mating system with each cell containing two mating-type loci (called A and B) that govern different aspects of the mating process, leading to 4 possible phenotypes after cell fusion. Each locus codes for a mating type sublocus (α or β) and each type is multi-allelic: the A locus has 9 alleles for the α type and an estimated 32 for its β type, and the B locus has 9 alleles each for both its α and β types. When combined this gives an estimated 9 × 32 × 9 × 9 = 23328 potential mating type specificities. This does not mean all different mating types are compatible with one another, because compatibility between haploid individuals exists only when for both the A and the B mating-type locus at least the α or β are different. Strains are thus compatible with ( 1 − 1/ (9 × 32) ) × ( 1 − 1/ (9 × 9) ) ≈ 0.984 = 98.4 % of the population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophyllum_commune#Mating

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 48 points 2 days ago

Imagine how much easier dating would be if you’re default compatible with over 98% of the population. Making me jealous.

[-] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 22 points 2 days ago

I’m just not into the A locus though

[-] idkwhatimdoing@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 days ago

All 288 variations? Problematic.

[-] frezik 10 points 2 days ago

And it's wasted on plants, who just spread their cum around the whole damn planet and make me sneeze.

[-] SuperIce@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.

[-] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

These aren't plants? Are there even plants with mating types?

[-] DarkAri 1 points 2 days ago

Most plants are both genders, they produce male and female parts.

[-] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Yep, I started writing something about that but then I figured it detracted from "fungi are not plants".

[-] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 46 points 2 days ago

"Look, I'm glad someone's having fun, but I'm not memorizing that set of pronouns!"

[-] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 24 points 2 days ago

When you have that many sexes, I think everyone would just use they/them. Don't want to assume incorrectly.

[-] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 3 points 2 days ago

That was my thought as well. That many sexes, if they can be called sexes, basically means everyone would have a single indeterminate sex. Imagine filling a form and selecting your sex among a 20K list of names.

[-] habs@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago

There are more than 20K cities/towns to choose from and most forms have auto-complete for that. So I think we could make it work and if it was an essential part of your identity, I imagine people would come to recognize most of them just by name over time

[-] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 2 points 2 days ago

If my species had 20K sexes, sex wouldn’t be an essential part of my identity. It would be like my fingerprints being part of my personality.

[-] Bonus@mander.xyz 22 points 2 days ago

[-] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 2 days ago

What's always been wild to me is how much the patterns you see when eating psilocybin resemble these and other mycelial growth. It's almost like you become part shroom.