Vegetative propagation: By fragmentation, fission & budding.
Asexual reproduction: By spores called conidia or sporangiospores or zoospores.
Sexual reproduction: By oospores, ascospores and basidiospores. They are produced in distinct structures called fruiting bodies.
The sexual cycle involves 3 steps: a. Plasmogamy:Fusion of protoplasm between two motile or non-motile gametes. b. Karyogamy:Fusion of two nuclei. c. Meiosis in zygote resulting in haploid spores.
When a fungus reproduces sexually, two haploid hyphae of compatible mating types come together and fuse.
In some fungi the fusion of two haploid cells immediately results in diploid cells (2n).
In other fungi (ascomycetes and basidiomycetes), a dikaryotic stage or dikaryophase (n + n i.e. two nuclei per cell) occurs. Such a condition is called a dikaryon. Later, parental nuclei fuse and the cells become diploid.
The fungi form fruiting bodies in which reduction division occurs, leading to formation of haploid spores.
