Conocybe filaris, like all
fungi, have a very unique and interesting lifecycle.
The life cycle of fungi differs from other organisms
because of the domination of the dikaryon stage. The
dikaryon stage is a portion of an organism’s life
cycle where cells from two different parent
organisms fuse, but their nuclei do not. This
dikaryotic stage differs in dominance throughout all
of the different phyla of fungi, but in Basidomycota,
the phyla where Conocybe filaris is found, the
dikaryotic portion of the life cycle is dominant.
Basidomycetes reproduce in two
different ways. The first, happening less frequently
is asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction occurs
through budding, and by the formation of asexual
spores. These asexual spores are produced by mitosis
alone, and grow to form primary mycelium.
They can also reproduce
sexually, through the formation of Basidiospores.
This process is a bit more complicated than the
formation of asexual spores, and is the preferred
method of reproduction for Basidiomycetes. For
sexual reproduction to occur, hyphal tips from two
different primary mycelia must make physical contact
with each other. This fusion is called a mating
event and results in the formation of a secondary
mycelium that is in a dikaryotic state. Under
the right conditions, these secondary mycelia will
produce fruiting bodies in the form of mushrooms.
These mushrooms are dikaryotic.
The process of forming the
Basidiospores takes place in the gills of a
mushroom. Gills are important not only because this
is where the Basidiospores are formed but because of
the surface area that they provide. The formation of
Basidiospores takes place on club like structures
called basidia. The cells in the basidia are
dikaryotic and contain two nuclei. These nuclei fuse
in the basidia in a process called karyogamy making
diploid cells which immediately undergo meiosis
resulting in haploid Basidiospores.
These Basidiospores are then
released from the gills of a mushroom into the wind
and dispersed to the world to germinate, grow, and
repeat the process all over again.
Below are links to a great graphic taken from TomVolkFungi.net that shows the complete life cycle of a Basidiomycete, and a explanation for that graphic.
Check out some other organisms that reproduce in the exact same way: