ABSTRACT
Although Blakeslee in 1904 demonstrated sexuality in the Mucorales (class Zygomycetes) through matings of mycelia established from single spores,3 it was not until 1918 – 20 that the mechanism of sexuality in the Basidiomycetes was discovered. During World War I, Hans Kniep16 in Germany studied mating reactions of single-spore cultures of Schizophyllum commune, and in France Mathilde Bensaude2 of Portugal based the research for her doctoral dissertation on a study of the mating reactions of single-spore cultures of Coprinus fimetarius. Bensaude showed that the mycelium arising from single spores was made up of hyphae with simple septa (Figure 6.1B) and that the hyphae of the fruiting bodies and mycelium, which gave rise to fruiting bodies, bore clamp connections (Figure 6.1A). Furthermore, she demonstrated that when mycelia that had originated from single spores were confronted in various combinations, only certain combinations gave rise to clamped mycelium, while in other combinations the hyphae had simple septa.
