[Campbell Biology P.707] Which of the following statements about fungal life cycles, as desc... | Practice Question
Which of the following statements about fungal life cycles, as described in the text, is false ?
A: The heterokaryotic condition allows one haploid genome to potentially compensate for harmful mutations in another.
B: During karyogamy, haploid nuclei fuse to produce diploid cells, and this is typically the only diploid stage in most fungi.
C: The time between plasmogamy and karyogamy can range from hours to even centuries in some fungi.
D: A dikaryotic mycelium is characterized by cells each containing a single diploid nucleus formed by the immediate fusion of two haploid nuclei after plasmogamy.
Explanation
A dikaryotic mycelium meaning 'two nuclei' is a type of heterokaryon where each cell contains two separate, unfused haploid nuclei, one from each parent, which divide in tandem. These nuclei do not immediately fuse to form a single diploid nucleus after plasmogamy; the fusion karyogamy occurs later.