The terminology on karyotism of fungi is in my opinion very confusing. I'm looking for good explanations of terms like: mono-karyon, homo-karyon, di-karyon, hetero-karyon, multi-karyon, poly-karyon (and others if there are). I find that in different publications the terminology is used for different things, which makes things harder to understand.
For definition, probably should refer to Dictionary of the Fungi... to understand those terms better, you may want to read papers about incompatibility in fungi, some good ones are from Louise Glass lab.
It's not too complicated, and please follow Zheng Wang's advice. Use a good dictionary or a good text book in mycology.
In short:
1. The term heterokaryon describes a mycelium containing more than one genotype. It does, in this case, not matter how many genetically different karyotypes are harboured by this mycelium.
2. Consequently, a homokaryon contains only a single karyotype.
3. The term dikaryon is used exclusively in sexual context. Dikaryon means that a given mycelium contains both nuclei with complementary mating type. Thus, a dikaryon is always heterokaryotic, because it contains two different genotypes that differ at the mating type locus. However, you may not switch that sentence: A heterokaryon is not necessarily a dikaryon, the latter word being used only for nuclei differing in mating type.
4. The term monokaryon, too, is used if talking about sex and means a mycelium containing only one of the two mating types.
5. Polykaryotic or multikaryotic do not normally refer to the genetic System in a given fungus and just state thar there are many nuclei in a given compartment of the mycelium or, if you wish, in a cell. These terms are normally used for describing the cytological situation in a fungus.
Cheer up!
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