ASCOSPORE A black, thick-walled spore that encloses a nucleus; one of the four haploid products of meiosis.
ASCUS The cell that develops after a fusion of nuclei of opposite mating type. In Neurospora crassa, the mature ascus is a narrow sac with the ascospores in a linear order reflecting the events of meiosis.
CONIDIUM An asexual spore, containing 1–4 nuclei, that is produced as a result of mitosis and that is formed from the ends or sides of hyphae, or filaments.
GENE CONVERSION A non-reciprocal process in which a gene is replaced by its homologue during meiosis. This is detectable in Neurospora crassa as 6:2 or 5:3 distorted genotypic ratios of ascospores in individual asci.
HETEROKARYON A mycelium that contains two or more genetically different nuclear types.
HETEROTHALLISM A condition of self-sterility imposed by mating-type differences. There are two mating types in Neurospora, A and a, and mating and completion of the sexual cycle require that parents be of opposite types.
MEIOTIC DRIVE A mechanism operating in the sexual phase that results in unequal survival of alternative types of meiotic products of a heterozygote.
QUINATE A key compound in the pathway for catabolism of aromatic compounds. The pathway includes a step that can be catalysed both by a catabolic enzyme and by an enzyme of the aromatic biosynthetic pathway.
RNA INTERFERENCE (RNAi). A process by which double-stranded RNA specifically silences the expression of homologous genes through degradation of their cognate mRNA.
